Page "Mellophone" Paragraph 2

The present-day mellophone has three valves, operated with the right hand.

Mellophone fingering is different to that of a trumpet.

Mellophones are typically pitched in the key of B-flat or A.

The overtone series is an octave above that of the F horn, exactly like playing the lower portion of a horn in F. Many drum and bugle corps, however, use mellophones pitched in G, although the number has dwindled somewhat since the two major United States drum and bugle corps circuits ( first Drum Corps International and then Drum Corps Associates ) passed rule changes allowing use of bell-front instruments in any key ( although corps using mellophones pitched in G typically have the whole of their brass section also using G instruments, whereas those using mellophones pitched in F generally have the remainder of their brass section using B ♭).

G Mellophones play much more like Flugelhorns and Trumpets and share the same overtone series.

The F Mellophones are much closer to an F horn in playstyle.