Classifications of Instruments
Classifications of Instruments
Classifications of Instruments
of
Instruments
Submitted to:
Dr. Rogelio B. Quitain
Submitted by:
Christine Nicole M. Abcede
BSED III-E MAPEH
Woodwind Instrument
FLUTE
Originally made of wood, the flute is now made from silver or gold and is about 2 feet in
length. It looks like a narrow tube with a row of holes covered by keys along one side. The
player blows air across the small hole in the mouthpiece to produce a sound that can be
either soft and mellow or high and piercing.
PICCOLO
The piccolo is exactly like the flute except that it is much smaller
and is usually made of silver or wood. The pitch of the piccolo is
higher than that of a flute.
OBOE
The oboe is similar to the clarinet in many ways. Both are made
from wood and have metal keys that can produce many notes
rapidly. Unlike the clarinet, the oboe does not have a
mouthpiece, but has two reeds tied together. By placing them
between one's lips and blowing air through them, the reeds
vibrate and produce a sound.
ENGLISH CLARINET
CLARINET
Made from wood, the clarinet produces a fluid sound when air
is blown between a single reed and the mouthpiece. By pressing
metal keys with the fingers of both hands, the player has the
ability to play
BASS CLARINET
BASOON
CONTRABASOON
VIOLIN
The four major instruments in the string family, the violin, the viola,
the cello and the double bass, are built the same way. The
instruments are made of many pieces of wood which are glued - never
nailed - together. The body of the instrument is hollow, thus
becoming a resonating box for the sound. Four strings (sometimes
five on the double bass) made of animal gut, nylon, or steel are
wrapped around pegs at one end of the instrument and attached to a
tailpiece at the other. They are stretched tightly across a bridge to
produce their assigned pitches.
The violin is the soprano voice in the string family. It is held under the chin, resting on the
shoulder. The violin has a lovely tone that can be soft and expressive or exciting and
brilliant.
VIOLA
The viola is the alto voice in the string family. Like the violin, it is held
under the chin, resting on the shoulder. Unlike the violin, the viola is
slightly larger and is tuned five notes lower. It has a darker and
warmer tone quality than the violin, but is not as brilliant.
CELLO
HARP
BASS DRUM
With a name that means, "the hitting of one body against another,"
instruments in the percussion family are played by being struck, shaken,
or scraped. In the orchestra, the percussion section provides a variety
of rhythms, textures and tone colors. Percussion instruments are
classified as tuned or untuned. Tuned instruments play specific pitches
or notes, just like the woodwind, brass and string instruments. Untuned
instruments produce a sound with an indefinite pitch, like the sound of a hand knocking on
a door. The percussion instruments are an international family, with ancestors from the
Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe representing musical styles from many
different cultures. The composer Mozart added the deep, booming, untuned sound of the
bass drum to the orchestra in 1782. Constructed like a snare drum, but without snares, the
bass drum is much larger and is played on its side, so that either head may be struck. The
beater or mallet for a bass drum is large with a soft material such as sheep's wool
covering the end.
CASTANETS
CHIMES
COWBELL
CYMBALS
Made from two large, slightly concave brass plates, cymbals are
fitted with leather hand straps and are shaped so that when they
are crashed together, only the edges touch. Although cymbals are
untuned instruments, different sized cymbals produce a wide
range of sound effects. Some are so small that they are played
with just the fingers. Cymbals are also played by being struck with
drumsticks or mallets while suspended on a string or stand.
GLOCKENSPIEL
GONG
GUIRO
The guiro is another untuned instrument from South and
Central America that is made from a gourd that has been
carved or notched to create a ridged surface. The guiro is
played by scraping the surface with a stick. Modern guiros
are made of materials such as plastic, metal and wood.
SNARE DRUM
The snare drum joined the orchestra nearly 200 years ago. It
has two calfskin or plastic drumheads stretched tightly over a
hollow metal frame. The top head is struck with wooden
drumsticks, and is called the batter-head. The bottom head, or
snare-head has catgut or metal wires, called snares, stretched
tightly across it. When this untuned drum is struck on the top
head, the snares produce a characteristic sharp rattling sound as
they vibrate against the bottom head.
TAMBOURINE
The tambourine is a shallow, handheld drum made of a
circular wooden frame with a calfskin or plastic drumhead
stretched across the top. The tambourine has small discs
called jingles set into its circular frame which produce sound
when the tambourine is shaken, rubbed, or struck on the
drum head with the knuckles. Early tambourines were played
by Turkish army musicians known as "Janissaries.” Mozart
first used the tambourine in his music in 1782.
TENOR DRUM
In a symphony orchestra's percussion section, a tenor drum is a
low-pitched drum. It's a little bigger than a snare drum, but it
has no snares and is played with soft mallets or hard sticks.
Under various names, the drum has been used by composers
since the mid-19th century. It is particularly noticeable in
scores by 20th-century English composers such as Benjamin
Britten and William Walton, and American composers such as
Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.
TIMPANI
Timpani, also called kettledrums, were the first drums to be
used in the orchestra over 300 years ago. They are constructed
of a large copper bowl with a drumhead made of calfskin or
plastic stretched across the top. When struck with felt-tipped
wooden sticks, or mallets, timpani produce a specific pitch that
is determined by the drum's size. That pitch is fine-tuned by
tightening the drumhead with keys and foot pedals. Most
orchestras use three or four timpani of varying sizes.
TRIANGLE
WOOD BLOCK
A wood block is a small slit drum made from a single piece of
wood and used as a percussion instrument.The orchestral wood-
block instrument is generally made from teak or another
hardwood. The dimensions of this instrument vary, although it is
either a rectangular or cylindrical block of wood with empty
space inside for the sound to resonate. It is played by striking it
with a stick, which produces a sharp crack.
XYLOPHONE
First used in the orchestra just over a century ago, the
xylophone is a tuned instrument made of hardwood bars
in graduated lengths set horizontally on a metal frame.
With the larger, lower-sounding bars on the left, the
notes of the xylophone are laid out much like a piano
keyboard. Striking the bars with hard mallets produces
a bright, sharp sound. The xylophone was originally
modeled after an African instrument and its name is
Greek, meaning "wood sound".
BRASS INSTRUMENTS
TRUMPET
TROMBONE
TUBA
HARPSICHORD
PIANO
Sound is produced on the piano when a player presses the keys, which
causes small hammers to strike the strings inside the instrument. It
is the vibrations of the piano's strings which produces its musical
sound.
ORGAN