Chapter 10: Western Musical Instruments

What are the four families of western instruments?

strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion

What instruments do not fit neatly into the western instrument classification system?

Keyboard Instruments

What are the two types of string families?

Bowed and Plucked

Bowed

A slightly curved stick with hair or fibers attached at both ends, drawn over the strings of an instrument to set them in motion.

Pluck

To sound the strings of an instrument using fingers or a plectrum or pick.

4 bowed type of instruments?

Violin, viola, Violencello, and double bass.

- each with four strings

Violin

Soprano, or highest-ranged, member of the bowed-string instrument family.

Viola

Bowed-string instrument of middle range; the second highest member of the violin family.

Double

To perform the same notes with more than one voice or instrument, either at the same pitch level or an octave higher or lower.

Cello

Bowed-string instrument with a middle-to-low range and dark, rich sonority; lower than a viola.

-AKA Violoncello

Double bass

Larges and lowest-pitched member of the bowed-string family.

AKA contrabass or bass viol.

Legato

smooth and connected

- opposite of staccato

Staccato

Short, detached notes, marked with a dot above them

Pizzicato

performance direction to pluck a string of a bowed instrument with the finger

- plucking the string instead of using a bow

Vibrato

small fluctuation of pitch used as an expressive device to intensify a sound

Glissando

A rapid slide from one pitch to another

- gathering all pitches under the left-hand finger in ones swooping sound

Tremolo

rapid repetition of a note; can be achieved instrumentally or vocally

- Quick up and down movement of the bow

Trill

Ornament consisting of the rapid alternation between one note and the next.

Double stop

playing two notes simultaneously on a string instrument

Mute

Mechanic device used to muffle the sound of an instrument

Harmonics

Individual, pure sounds that are part of any musical tone; in string instruments, crystalline pitches in the very high register, produced by lightly touching a vibrating string at a certain point.

Harp

Plucked-string instrument, triangular in shape with strings perpendicular to the soundboard.

Arpeggio

broken chord in which the individual pitches are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously

Guitar

Plucked-string instrument originally made of wood with a hollow, resonating body and a fretted fingerboard; types include acoustic and electric.

Acoustic guitar

A guitar designed for performance without electronic amplification.

Electric guitar

A guitar designed for electronic amplification.

Banjo

Plucked-string instrument with round body in the form of a single-headed drum and a long, fretted neck; brought to the Americas by African slaves.

Mandolin

Plucked-string instrument with a rounded body and fingerboard; used in some traditional musics and in country-western music.

Flute

Soprano-range woodwind instrument, usually made of metal and held horizontally.

Piccolo

Smallest woodwind instrument, similar to the flute but sounding an octave higher

Oboe

Soprano-range, double-reed woodwind instrument.

English horn

Double-reed woodwind instrument, larger and lower in range than the oboe.

Bell

The wide or bulbed opening at the end of a wind instrument.

Clarinet

A family of single reed woodwind instruments with a predominately cylindrical bore

Bass clarinet

Woodwind instrument, with the lowest range, of the clarinet family.

The bassoon

Double-reed woodwind instrument with a low range.

Contrabassoon

Double-reed woodwind instrument with the lowest range in the woodwind family. Also double bassoon.

Saxophone

Family of single-reed woodwind instruments commonly used in wind and jazz bands.

Embouchure

The placement of the lips, lower facial muscles, and jaws in playing a wind instrument.

Trumpet

Highest-pitched brass instrument that changes pitch by means of valves.

Trombone

Tenor range brass instrument that changes pitch by means of a slide.

Tuba

Bass-range brass instrument that changes pitch by means of a slide.

Brass instrument

Wind instrument with a cup-shaped mouthpiece, a tube that flares into a bell, and slides or valves to vary the pitch. Most often made of brass or silver.

Cornet

Valved brass instrument similar to the trumpet but more mellow in sound.

Bugle

Brass instrument that evolved form the earlier military, or field, trumpet

Fuegelhorn

Valved brass instrument resembling a bugle with a wide bell

Used in jazz and commercial music

Euphonium

Tenor range bass instrument resembling a tuba

Sausaphone

Brass instrument adapted from the tuba with a forward bell that is coiled to rest over the player's shoulder for ease of carrying while marching.

Timpani

Percussion instrument consisting of a hemispheric copper shell with a head of plastic or calfskin, held in place by a metal ring and played with soft or hard padded sticks. A pedal mechanism changes the tension of the head, and with it the pitch. Also kettledrums.

Xylophone

Percussion instrument with tuned blocks of wood suspended on a frame, laid out in the shape of a keyboard and struck with hard mallets.

Marimba

Percussion instrument, a mellower version of the xylophone; of African origin.

Vibraphone

A percussion instrument with metal bars and electrically driven rotating propellers under each bar that produces a vibrato sound, much used in jazz.

Glockenspiel

Percussion instrument with horizontal, tuned steel bars of various sizes that are struck with mallets and produce a bright metallic sound.

Celesta

Percussion instrument resembling a miniature upright piano, with tuned metal plates struck by hammers that are operated by a keyboard.

Chimes

Percussion instrument of definite pitch, with suspended metal tubes that are struck with a hammer

AKA Tubular bells

Snare drum

Small cylindrical drum with two heads stretched over a metal shell, the lower head having strings across it; played with two drumsticks. Also side drum.

Bass drum

Percussion instrument played with a large, soft-headed stick; the largest orchestral drum.

Tom tom

Cylindrical drum without snares.

Tambourine

Percussion instrument consisting of a small round drum with metal plates inserted in its rim; played by striking or shaking.

Castanets

Percussion instruments consisting of small wooden clappers that are struck together; widely used to accompany Spanish dancing.

Triangle

Percussion instrument consisting of a slender rod of steel bent in the shape of a triangle, struck with a steel beater.

Cymbals

Percussion instruments consisting of two large circular brass plates of equal size that are struck sidewise against each other.

Gong

percussion instrument consisting of a broad, circular metal disk suspended on a frame and struck with a heavy mallet; produces a definite pitch

Tam tam

a flat gong of indefinite pitch

Gamelan

Musical ensemble of Java or Bali, made up of gongs, chimes, metallophones, and drums, among other instruments.

Piano

Keyboard instrument whose strings are struck with hammers controlled by a keyboard mechanism; pedals control dampers in the strings that stop the sound when the finger releases the key.

Organ

Wind instrument in which air is fed to the pipes by mechanical means; the pipes are controlled by two or more keyboards and a set of pedals.

Harpsichord

Early Baroque keyboard instrument in which the strings are plucked by quills instead of being struck with hammers like the piano.

All string family instruments are ___. The harp and guitar are plucked-string instruments, while violins, violas, cellos and basses are generally played with a ____.

Chordophones; bow

The term arpeggio, meaning "broken chord," is derived from the name of what instrument?

Harp

What is an instrument that originated in the middle east?

Guitar

What bowed instrument can play the highest notes?

Violin

The ___ features strings that are struck by hammers controlled by a keyboard mechanism.

Piano

Are percussion instruments considered either "pitched" or "unpitched"?

Yes

Are there four "families" of western instruments.

Yes

What term describes how brass players must use their lips, jaws, and lower facial muscles together in order to play their instrument?

Embouchure

Name some woodwind instruments.

Oboe, clarinet, saxophone, flute

All string family instruments are ____. The strings are often played with a ____.

Chordophones; bow

A Pizzicato effect is created on a string instrument when the ____.

Strings are plucked

Playing notes smoothly, with connection, is called____.

Legato

Does the english horn belong to the brass family?

No

The instruments of the Western orchestra are categorized into which groups?

strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion

The string family includes which types of instruments?

bowed and plucked

The bowed string instrument with the highest range is the

violin

A pizzicato effect is created on a string instrument when

the strings are plucked

The "heart" of the orchestra is the ____ section.

String

On bowed string instruments, sliding the hand along the string while bowing it produces a ________ effect.

glissando

Playing a series of notes smoothly and with connection is called

legato

The opposite of legato is

staccato

The term arpeggio, meaning "broken chord," is derived from the name of what instrument?

harp

Which instruments are members of the woodwind family?

flute, oboe, bassoon, English horn, saxophone

Name a double reed instrument?

oboe

What brass instrument dates back to ancient times and was used for religious ceremonies and military signals?

trumpet

What brass instrument descended from the ancient hunting horn?

French horn

The sousaphone is the marching-band adaptation of which instrument?

tuba

The _______ is an indefinite pitchpercussion instrument.

triangle

What instrument is an example of pitched percussion?

xylophone

What keyboard instrument is also a wind instrument?

organ

Which keyboard instrument produces sound with quills that pluck metal strings?

harpsichord

Which instrument derives its name from the Italian word meaning "loud-soft"?

Piano