Virtual Trumpet You Play on a Keyboard
This virtual trumpet is a keyboard with a trumpet sound: each key is one note that sounds for as long as you hold it, like a blown note, and stops when you let go. It covers the range of a B♭ trumpet at concert pitch, E3 to B♭5, on 31 fixed keys that fit on one screen. Play it with your fingers on a phone, with the mouse, with your computer keyboard or with a MIDI keyboard.
How to use it
- Tap the keys with your fingers or click them; each note lasts as long as you hold it. You can press several at once to hear an interval or a chord.
- On a computer, Z X C V B N M play C4 to B4 and Q W E R T Y play C5 to A5; the row above each one gives the sharps (S D G H J and 2 3 5 6 7, where 7 is B♭5). The notes from E3 to B3 are on screen or MIDI only.
- With the MIDI keyboard button you can play from a keyboard plugged in over USB, in Chrome, Edge or Opera.
- Tap Record, play your tune, then tap again to stop. Then use Play, ↓ MIDI, ↓ WAV or Share.
- Under Key labels, choose to show each note's name, the computer key that plays it, or nothing.
Help and explanations
The sound is synthesized on your device from the harmonics of a trumpet tone, with a touch of vibrato and breath; it is not a recording of a real trumpet. There are no valves and you don't blow into the microphone. It's a quick way to work out a melody, hear how it sits in the trumpet's range and record it to download as MIDI or WAV or send as a link.
Concert pitch vs. written trumpet notes
The B♭ trumpet is a transposing instrument: it sounds a whole step lower than written. When a trumpet player reads and plays a C, you hear a B♭. This virtual trumpet always shows concert pitch, the note you actually hear, just like a piano. To play trumpet sheet music here, move every note down a whole step: a written D becomes C and a written G becomes F. That's why the page's range, E3 to B♭5, matches the written notes F♯3 to C6.
To see which valves each written note takes, open the trumpet fingering chart; to move a whole song to another key, use the transposer.
What a virtual trumpet is good for
Use it to work out a trumpet solo by ear, check whether a song fits the instrument's range, or sketch a line and take it into MuseScore: the MIDI file uses General MIDI Trumpet, so it opens with a trumpet sound. Beginners can also use it to learn what the notes they're about to play should sound like. What it can't do is teach technique: embouchure, valves and breathing only come from practice on the real instrument.
Tips
- The trumpet sounds most natural in the middle of its range: melodies between G4 and C5 work better than ones at the extremes.
- Each note sounds for as long as you hold the key, like a long breath: let go to stop it.
- Under Chord or scale, light up the B♭ major scale, the home key of a lot of band music; Listen plays it for you.
- A phone speaker thins out the tone: with headphones the trumpet sounds fuller.
Frequently asked questions
How do I play the virtual trumpet with my computer keyboard?
Z X C V B N M play C D E F G A B from C4, and Q W E R T Y carry on from C5. The sharps sit on the row above: S D G H J and 2 3 5 6 7. The lowest notes, E3 to B3, are played on screen. Esc releases everything.
Does this virtual trumpet have valves?
No. It's a keyboard with a trumpet sound: each key gives one note, with no valve combinations and no blowing. To learn the valves, use the site's trumpet fingering chart, which shows the combination for every written note.
Why doesn't the note on the page match my trumpet music?
Because the page shows concert pitch and B♭ trumpet music is written a whole step higher. A written C sounds as B♭. Lower each note of your part by a whole step to play it here.
Can I practice with my own trumpet?
Yes. Open Challenge: play the note, turn on the microphone and play the requested note on your trumpet; the site recognizes it by sound, on your device, without recording. It asks for concert pitch, so for a C on the page, play a written D.
Can I record and download what I played?
Yes. Tap Record, play and stop. ↓ MIDI downloads the notes to open in notation software and ↓ WAV downloads the audio. The Share link carries the notes in the address.