Euphonium Euphonium The euphonium is a large, conical-bore, baritone-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word "euphōnos", meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( "eu" means "well" or "good" and "phōnē" means "sound", hence "of good sound"). The euphonium is a valved instrument. Nearly all current models have piston valves, though models with rotary valves do exist. The euphonium may be played in bass clef as a non-transposing instrument or in treble clef as a transposing instrument. In British brass bands, it is typically treated as a treble-clef instrument, while in American band music, parts may be written in
Pitch of brass instruments normal playing range of most three-valved brass instruments extends from three whole tones below the 2nd harmonic of the instrument to the 10th harmonic. Skilled players can produce tones outside this range. For many transposing brass instruments, this range is written as extending from F♯ below middle C to E two octaves and a third above middle C. The orchestral horn is an exception as it was classically assigned a range beginning at its fourth harmonic. The ease with which a player produces the fundamental note of each harmonic series for each tubing length of a modern brass instrument varies