One player performs a prepared solo on a brass instrument such as the trumpet, trombone or euphonium, entered by exam standard or age band and marked out of 100.
Brass Solo is the class for a single player on a brass instrument: the trumpet, cornet, French horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba and their relatives, where the sound is made by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. The entry is one performer and one prepared piece, played from memory or from the copy, usually with a pianist or a recorded accompaniment where the notice allows one. Because the class names the family rather than a single instrument, a young cornet player and an older trombonist compete under the same heading, and the panel judges how well each plays what they chose.
How the class is divided depends on the event. The British template that carries it splits it by standard in five tiers, from Prep or Initial through Grades 1 and 2, Grades 3 and 4 and Grades 5 and 6 to Grade 7 and above, with limits rising from three minutes to ten. The Australian templates split it by age instead: seven and under up to nineteen and under, and in one case a thirty-five and over class, with limits of three to ten minutes. A beginners' class on one of them carries no printed time limit. All are individual entries open to boys and girls together, and none sets a language.
A round is short and orderly. The entrant is called, settles the instrument and plays, and leaves while the adjudicator writes a comment and a mark. The time limit covers the performance, so a long piece with every repeat taken can overrun where a shorter, well-chosen one finishes cleanly. At the lowest tiers the aim is a secure, steady sound and the right notes; at the upper tiers panels expect a controlled tone across the range, clean articulation and endurance across the whole piece.
Organisers add the class because brass playing is a large part of school, band and community music, and a dedicated class gives those players a stage that a general instrumental class might blur. It sits beside the woodwind, string and percussion solos in a music section, and it is judged on the same scale so results can be compared fairly.
Where Brass Solo is run
Brass Solo appears on five eTalenter templates: a British children and young people's music, speech and drama eisteddfod that grades it by standard, three Australian regional eisteddfods that run it by age class, and one American national fine-arts programme that runs it as a single participant class. The data supports only those five, so this page does not claim wider use.
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- United States
Key facts
- Individual entry, open to boys and girls together; no language is set
- British template: five tiers by standard (Prep/Initial, Grades 1 & 2, Grades 3 & 4, Grades 5 & 6, Grade 7 & above) with limits of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 minutes
- Australian templates: age classes from 7 and under to 19 and under, plus Open and one 35 and over class, with limits between 3 and 10 minutes
- American programme: a single participant class with a 5-minute limit
- Marked out of 100; the sources print no judging criteria for the class, so none are assumed here
- Idea, not a rule: younger entrants often choose a short, lyrical tune that sits comfortably in the middle of the range
On eTalenter, Brass Solo is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 5 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Brass Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 3–10 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Brass Solo
What a Brass Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Tone quality: a full, even, unforced sound that holds its colour from low notes to high ones, rather than thinning or cracking at the extremes
- Intonation: notes placed in tune with themselves and with any accompaniment, including after leaps and at the end of long phrases when the lips tire
- Note accuracy and articulation: clean starts to notes, clear tonguing and slurs where written, and few split or missed notes
- Rhythm and tempo: a steady pulse with counted rests, and a tempo chosen that the player can hold to the final bar
- Breathing and phrasing: breaths taken at musical points so phrases are shaped, not chopped, and endurance that lasts the whole piece
- Time discipline and stage manner: finishing inside the limit for the tier, with a calm entrance, a settled start and a tidy exit
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Brass Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Brass Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Brass Solo right on the day:
- Choose a piece that suits the tier and fits the limit, and avoid one that sits at the very top of your range for most of its length
- Warm up properly before you are called: long notes, gentle lip slurs and scales, so the first phrase on stage is not your first sound of the day
- Practise in short, rested sessions; lip fatigue is the usual cause of late-piece errors, so build endurance gradually rather than in one long run-through
- Rehearse with the accompanist or recording at least twice, and agree the tempo, the start signal and any repeats beforehand
- Mark your breaths in the copy and practise the whole piece with them, so phrasing is planned rather than decided in the moment
- Bring valve oil or slide cream, a spare mouthpiece if you have one, and a clean copy of the music if the notice asks for it
- If you lost marks at a first festival, ask for the written comments and work on the fault named most, usually intonation or tone
Frequently asked questions
Is Brass Solo 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 count as brass in this class?
The templates name the class only as Brass Solo and do not list instruments. The trumpet, cornet, horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba are the usual brass family, but check your organiser's notice for any limit.
How long is a Brass Solo?
It depends on the template. On the British one the limit runs from 3 minutes in the Prep or Initial tier to 10 minutes at Grade 7 and above. The Australian classes run between 3 and 10 minutes by age, and the American programme allows 5.
Do I need an accompanist?
The templates do not say. They print only the time limits and a mark out of 100, so ask your organiser whether a pianist or a recorded backing is allowed or provided.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
It is an individual item: one player per entry, open to boys and girls together, and marked out of 100.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.
Try Brass Solo in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Brass Solo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
