"Well...," pondered the little violin. "I have seen the trombone being played. And the player moves part of the trombone back and forth. It looks like it gets longer or shorter as that happens."

"You are absolutely correct!" exclaimed the piano. "The trombone increases the length of the tubing by moving the slide closer to or away from the instrument and this changes the pitch."

"Now, my little violin, do you know which of the brass instruments plays higher and which plays lower? "

The violin thought for only a few seconds and then she said, "The trumpet is the smallest of the brass intruments. I think it is the highest sounding member of the family, then the French horn, the trombone, and finally, the big guy in the family - the tuba."