The trumpet has probably evolved more than any other instrument that is presently in use. Its long history began with ancient people using hollow materials such as animal horns and seashells to amplify sounds that they made. The trumpet as we have it today is almost a totally different instrument from what it was thousands of years ago.
Since the beginning of time, man has composed music, both instrumental and vocal. The very first instruments were probably part of the percussion family. People would bang on things to make sounds. After that, people looked for things to amplify their own voice. In order to produce any sound on a trumpet the player needs to "buzz"� his or her lips. It is believed that the first ancestor of the trumpet was played while someone was trying to blow a sea animal out of a shell. Instead of blowing, the person somehow buzzed his lips into the shell.
English: Louis Armstrong, jazz trumpeter Français...
Didgeridoo
TrumpetAfter this discovery, people started buzzing into hollow things to send a message from one person to another.
The oldest evidence of trumpets has been found in Egyptian drawings on the inside walls of a Pharaoh's tomb. These drawings have been dated around 1500 BC. The trumpets shown were made of a long tube and had a bell flaring out on one end. They were probably used for communication purposes, like signaling in battle, or announcing someone's arrival. In the Bible, trumpets are symbolic for the voices of angels.
During the Middle Ages, a major revolution occurred with regards the trumpet. At this time various trumpeters joined together and began to compose their own music for their own instrument. During the Renaissance, a new kind of trumpet, the slide trumpet, was invented. Its slide was similar to that of the trombone. In early versions,