The serpent is a low-pitched early wind instrument in the lip-reed family, developed in the Renaissance era. It has a trombone-like mouthpiece, with six tone holes arranged in two groups of three fingered by each hand. It is named for its long, conical bore bent into a snakelike shape, and unlike most brass instruments is made from wood with an outer covering of leather or parchment. A distant ancestor of the tuba, the serpent is related to the cornett and was used for bass parts from the 17th to the early 19th centuries.