Wind – Brass Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo performance on a brass instrument for players aged 16 to 35, scored out of 100 within a ten-minute limit.

Brass is a solo item for players of lip-vibrated metal instruments: trumpet, trombone, French horn, euphonium, tuba and their relatives. The sound comes from the player’s buzzing lips shaped by the mouthpiece, with valves or a slide changing the length of tube. One player enters on one instrument and performs alone, usually with a pianist or a recorded accompaniment where the notice allows it.

A round is a short recital. The player walks on, settles the instrument and plays a piece or a short set within the clock. Programmes typically show the instrument’s two sides: a lyrical, singing line that tests tone and breath, and a brilliant, fast passage that tests articulation, range and stamina. Pieces may come from the classical solo repertoire, from jazz and light music, or from modern concert writing.

The template sets the item as an individual entry in an Instrumental group, open to both genders, with the language left as Any/NA because there is no sung text. It carries a ten-minute clock and Marks out of 100. The source award it follows rotated its categories between editions and listed brass in its most recent one. It publishes no scoring split, so the template holds the item, the clock and a single total.

Organisers run it as one item because the family shares its fundamentals: breath control, embouchure, intonation and tone. A coordinator registers each player into the Instrumental group, records which brass instrument they play, checks dates of birth against the age band, and publishes one results list for the item.

Where Wind – Brass comes from

Valved brass instruments in their modern form took shape in Europe in the early nineteenth century, building on much older natural horns and trumpets.

Where Wind – Brass is run

On eTalenter this item is used in a single template, built from the published rules of a national music award held in China, which changes its categories between editions so that brass appears in some and not others. Brass solos are also long-standing items in conservatoire examinations, school and university music contests, band festivals and eisteddfod-style music festivals in many countries, each with its own notice for age limits, repertoire and time limits.

• China

Key facts

• Individual item: one player, one instrument, one performance, one score
• Open to brass instruments such as trumpet, trombone, French horn, euphonium and tuba
• Instrumental group, ages 16 to 35, open to both genders; language is Any/NA because there is no sung text
• Scored as Marks out of 100, with a ten-minute limit on the template clock
• A coordinator can record the instrument played in each entry so the panel knows what to expect
• It is separate from the piano, guzheng and plucked-instruments items the template lists on their own

On eTalenter, Wind – Brass is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Wind – Brass is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 10 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Wind – Brass

What a Wind – Brass panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Tone quality: a full, centred sound that stays warm in quiet passages and does not split or harden when loud
• Intonation: accurate pitch across the range, especially on long notes and after big leaps
• Breath and embouchure control: steady long phrases, clean entries and releases, and endurance that lasts to the final bar
• Articulation and technique: crisp tonguing, even valve or slide work, and clean runs at speed
• Rhythm and tempo: a steady pulse, accurate speeds and rubato that sounds deliberate
• Musical expression: phrasing, dynamics and style that suit the piece, whether lyrical, jazz or brilliant
• The template records one total out of 100 and prints no split, so a panel that wants separate headings agrees its own before the round

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Wind – Brass under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Wind – Brass

How entrants and their teachers usually get Wind – Brass right on the day:

• Read the event notice first for the age band, time limit, repertoire rules and whether accompaniment is allowed
• Build a programme with contrast, one singing piece and one showy piece, and time the whole set against the ten-minute clock
• Warm up properly and plan the warm-up room time, because cold lips cost pitch and tone in the first minute
• Practise long tones and slow scales daily so intonation holds when nerves arrive
• Plan breaths in the music itself, marking them in the part, so phrases never run out of air
• Check valve oil or slide grease, a mute if the piece needs one, spare music and a stand before leaving for the venue
• Record a full run-through and listen for tired tone, drifting pitch and rushed endings, then fix those first
• After a loss, work out whether tone, intonation or phrasing cost the most and train that one element before the next round
• Ideas, not rules: play your slowest passage at half speed with full dynamics to build control before restoring the tempo

Frequently asked questions

Is Wind – Brass judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Which instruments can I enter with?

The item is for brass instruments such as trumpet, trombone, French horn, euphonium and tuba. A coordinator can record the instrument in each entry.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

Individually. The template records one player, one performance and one score out of 100.

How long can the performance be?

The template clock is ten minutes. The event notice may set a different limit for a given round, which a coordinator can change on the item.

Is brass the same as woodwind?

No. Brass instruments are sounded by the player’s buzzing lips in a cup or funnel mouthpiece, while woodwinds use a reed or an air edge. This template lists brass as its own item.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music judging criteria guide, or browse every on stage competition item.