What’s a British Brass Band?

To put it simply, British Brass Bands hold their roots from British working class amatuer musicians who formed bands with their coworkers.

The Brass Band was a way for workers to get away from the toils of everyday work and have some fun with friends and coworkers. Companies (mainly in the industrial field) formed bands which regularly competed with each other in competitions and parades.

The main differences between a Brass Band and any other brass ensemble or brass section is in it’s instrumentation. British Brass Bands use a fixed instrumentation of around 27 players. The instrumentation is most often as follows:

• 1 Soprano Cornet in E-Flat

• 4 Solo Cornets in B-Flat

• 1 Repiano Cornet in B-Flat

• 2 2nd Cornets in B-Flat

• 2 3rd Cornets in B-Flat

• 1 Flugelhorn in B-Flat

• 3 Tenor/Alto Horns in E-Flat (Solo, 1st, & 2nd)

• 2 Baritones in B-Flat (1st & 2nd)

• 2 Tenor Trombones in B-Flat (1st & 2nd)

• 1 Bass Trombone (written in concert pitch)

• 2 Euphoniums in B-Flat

• 2 Basses (Tubas) in E-Flat

• 2 Basses in B-Flat

• 1-4 Percussionists (drum kit & timpani at the minimum)

Those brass players reading this may see that almost all the instruments are in B or E-Flat, implying they read in Treble Clef. This is true! All instruments in the British Brass Band read transposing Treble Clef in B or E-Flat. This follows similarly to the Clarinet or Saxophone families. The Bass Trombone and Timpani are the only instruments which read in concert pitch (Bass Clef).