C Trumpets

It is common to find orchestral players using C trumpets, although nearly all players will start on a Bb. The good thing about a C trumpet is that you don’t need to transpose if you’re playing along to, say, piano music.

Much of the use in modern times for a C trumpet is to play older classical pieces with an authentic sound; many of these older compositions were written specifically for the C. Modern compositions tend to be written for the Bb. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule.