The earliest forerunner of the euphonium as the tenor voice of the lip and reed family is generally thought to have been the serpent, deriving its name from its snake-like appearance. It was constructed of wood, brass, or silver and played with a deep-cup mouthpiece made of horn or ivory.The serpent is cited as a forerunner of the euphonium because they have several aspects in common. They both produce a sound the same way using a deep-cupped mouthpiece and both instruments are conical in bore and similar in length. Thus their tone colour and tessitura are similar