What’s the Difference Between a Trumpet and a Cornet?

Horns have been used throughout history, for everything from battles to birthday parties. Rudimentary horns were made from many different materials, including wood, clay and even human bone. Examples date back to 1500 B.C. in Egypt, China and Scandinavia. The Moche people of ancient Peru painted images of trumpets as far back as 300 A.D. In the ancient Greek and Roman eras, metallic trumpets were used for marching in wartime. Eventually, almost all European royalty had trumpet bands that played military fanfares, although it wasn’t until the seventeenth century that the trumpet came to be used in musical ensembles.