Instrument Introduction
The purpose of all instruments is to make sound. In order to do this, something must vibrate.
The way an instrument produces sound determines what family it is in. The four families of instruments are woodwind, brass, string, and percussion.
A woodwind’s sound is produced by a vibrating column of air.
A brass instrument’s sound is produced by the vibration of the player’s lips.
A string instrument’s sound is produced by vibrating strings.
A percussion instrument’s sound is produced by hitting, shaking and scraping the instrument.
Some instruments can fit into more than one family. The piano, for example, could be either a percussion or a string instrument.
Woodwind
Many woodwind instruments were originally make out of wood. One example is the flute.
Some woodwind instruments use a reed to produce vibration, which is a thin piece of wood that vibrates against the mouthpiece.
When two such reeds are put together it’s called a double reed. These pieces of wood vibrate against each other.
Other woodwinds have what is called a tone hole. This makes sound when air is split.
Single Reed Woodwinds
Saxophones, clarinets
Double Reed Woodwinds
Oboe, bassoon, shawm, English Horn
Tone Hole Woodwinds
Flute, piccolo, recorder, whistle
Brass
Brass instruments were originally used for communication.
Examples-army commands, sentry calls, herald’s announcements
The biggest limitation of early brass instruments was their inability to play notes that were next to each other.
The first way people tried to make brass instruments more musical was by using crooks, which were bent pieces of metal tubing of different lengths that could be added to the instrument.
The second attempt to give brass instruments more notes was the slide, which was a movable piece of tubing that fit over another part of the instrument.
The final and most successful attempt was the valve, which is like a switch that opens up an existing part of the instrument, in effect varying the length.
Examples of Brass Instruments: Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, French Horn, Bugle, Baritone Horn, Euphonium, Sackbut, Herald’s Horn, Piccolo Trumpet, Cornet, Alp Horn
Strings
String instruments make sound when strings made out of metal or nylon vibrate.
The strings that are now made out of nylon were originally made out of intestines, called gut strings.
The two ways to create vibration on a string instrument are plucking and bowing.
Most string instruments have a hollow body to amplify the sound they make.
Plucked String Instruments: Guitar, Banjo, Harp, Bass Guitar, Harpsichord, Lute, Ukulele, Mandolin, Lyre
Bowed String Instruments:
Violin, Viola, Cello, Double BassPercussion
Percussion instruments make sound when the instrument is hit, shaken, or scraped.
Percussion instruments are the most basic instruments and have the longest history.
Something that you can hit to make sound that isn’t a proper instrument is called a found instrument.
The two type of percussion instruments are indefinite pitch and definite pitch instruments.
Indefinite Pitch Percussion Instruments: Many drums, Cymbals, Claves, Maracas, Triangle, Sandblocks, Cabasa, Castanets, Wood block, Tambourine, Guiro, Sleigh bells
Definite Pitch Percussion Instruments:
Piano (sort of), Xylophone, Marimba, Celesta, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Church bells, Hand bells, Timpani, Tom toms, Agogo, Bongos, Congos