The Orchestra

“Hello…I’m the conductor.I’ll be your guide as you explore the orchestra.”

What is an orchestra? The orchestra is made of four families of instruments:•Strings•Brass•Woodwinds•Percussion

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Members of the brass section include:•French horn•Tuba•trumpet or cornet•trombone

All brass instruments are made of long pieces of coiled tubes or brass or othermetals. Their sound comes from the musician's lips as they make a buzzing noise. The sound coming out of a brass instrument can be changed when the player changes his lip tension.

French horns are the leaders of the brass section in the orchestra. They don't have valves. Instead they have keys.

The trombone is another member of the brass family. It is made of a long brass tube that is folded back on itself sort of like a paper clip. You play the trombone by sliding tubing back and forth to make the tube longer or shorter. This changes the sound.

The trumpet and cornet also belong to the brassFamily. Long ago trumpets and cornets were used during battles. The soldiers would listenfor their special trumpet calls and they would know what to do on the battlefield. Kings like trumpets to play at their royal celebrations because they sound so important and special.

Tubas are the largest brass instruments.The first tuba was made in Germany by a composer named Richard Wagner.

This is a sousaphone. It is in the tuba family.

The percussion section has many different instruments in it. It is usually in the back of the orchestra. The percussion section is made up of instruments that use a hammer, or other device, to strike the instrument and make the sound.

The bass drum is the lowest keyed drum in the orchestra. It does not have a definite pitch like the kettle drum.

Even though snare drums have different types and sizes they all have one feature in common. All of them have two heads. The upper head is played and the head underneath has little strips of gut or metal stretched across it. These vibrate to make a dry rattling sound.

People in the Middle East used to put drums on either side of their camels. The drummer sat on top and playedthem.

These percussion instruments are smaller, hand held instruments.Some people call this group of  instruments the "kitchen sink department" because of the wide variety of things it includes. Even though they are very different from other percussion instruments and even from each other, you still play them by hitting them with a sounder or against each other.

The xylophone and glockenspiel are tuned percussion  instruments. They hold their tune better that any of the other percussion instruments.The marimba is a larger, deeper, more mellow-sounding type of xylophone.

The string section has been a major part of the orchestra for 200 years; the "glue" that holds the orchestra together. There are two types of stringed instruments, bowed and plucked. Bowed strings are played with a bow, and are the violin, viola, cello and bass. Plucked strings include the harp, guitar, lute, mandolin, banjo, and others.

The harpsichord also has strings that are plucked. The piano has strings that are actually hit by small mallets, so it is considered a percussion instrument.

The strings were originally made out of cat gut, just as tennis racket strings used to be made.

The bigger the stringed instrument the lower the sound. That’s the case with bass. Large orchestras have 8 to 10 basses, and some chamber groups will also include a bass. The bass makes an important rhythm instrument, too.

The cello is the second largest of the string section. Of all the strings, the rich, singing sound of the cello make it sound the most like a human voice. Some people believe it is the most expressive instrument in the orchestra. In string quartets the cello usually plays the lowest notes.

The plucked strings include the harp, guitar, lute, mandolin and banjo. The strings are plucked to make sweet, delicate music that is softer than most other instruments.

ViolaThis instrument is bigger than the violin, though it is hard to tell it from the audience’s view. Its sound is warm, deep and powerful. If instruments represented human voices, the viola would rank as an alto. It is not often used in a solo role, but it could not be removed from the orchestra because of its value in playing harmony. It is more difficult to play, due to violists having to stretch their fingers further between notes.

ViolinThe violin plays an extremely important part in the orchestra, but is the smallest of the string family. It plays the main melody in most orchestral music.

A woodwind is an instrument that you blow into or over. The squad of the woodwinds is made up of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and saxophones. They are called woodwinds, it's because they used to be made of wood, though saxophones are included because they have a reed.

The highest is the smaller cousin of the flute, the piccolo, and the lowest is the contrabassoon. Today they can be made of wood, metal or plastic. Opening and closing holes in the body of the instrument controls the pitch of the tones.

The bassoon is the lowest and largest of the woodwinds. Its sound has a lot of variety, depending on if low, medium or high notes are used.

The clarinet is the most important woodwind in the orchestra, and has a very wide range. It has 18 holes, six of which are covered by fingers and the remainder by keys.

Flutes descended from the recorder, and were once made of wood (most piccolos today are still made of wood). They can be made of all types of metal, including silver, gold or platinum, or a combination. Blowing over an empty Coke bottle is the same principle as blowing a flute.

The oboe is the soprano of the double-reed woodwinds. The sound is produced the same way as the flute, which is by forcing a column of air to vibrate (though it certainly doesn’t sound like a flute!).

The saxophone is considered a woodwind because the way it is played is very similar to the clarinet. It is made of brass, and is the only woodwind that has never been made of wood. It has a single reed mouthpiece. It is made of a long, bent tube with holes in it, which are covered by pads called keys. The saxophone has three parts: the body, the neck and the mouthpiece.

To learn more about instruments of the orchestra, visit:String Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra

Cool Composers

Play Music

Music Education

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