The trumpet is a brass wind instrument composed of a long metal tube looped once and ending in a flared bell. The pressure and shape of the lips in the mouthpiece and the strength of the air pressure, used in combination with the valves, determine the pitch produced. Most contemporary western trumpets are endblown, often with a detachable mouthpiece and a curved bell. There are many varieties of these instruments. Some are curved, some have slides and some have two or more coils along the body of the instrument. The three-valve B-flat trumpet is currently most popular and is heard in every style of western music from mariachi ensembles to jazz groups, classical orchestras and marching bands. Other commonly used trumpets include the C trumpet, D trumpet, Eb trumpet and piccolo trumpet. These differ in the length of tubing, which, as listed, get progressively smaller, making them higher in pitch.

Among the influential trumpet performers of this century are jazz artists Louis Armstrong, Doc Cheatham, Herb Alpert, Don Cherry, and Maynard Ferguson, as well as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, two pioneers of bebop. Other well-known names include classical performer Gunther Schuller and the versatile Wynton Marsalis and Rafael Mendez.