Guide to Musical Instruments

All musical instruments  are categorized into different musical families: Brass, Woodwind, String, Percussion, and Keyboards.  Sort through these categories to find the instrument that you are looking for, as well as learn a little bit about what makes it work!

Brass

Brass instruments  are of Western European tradition and most are made out of metal brass.  You can occasionally find some made of wood, horn, shell, or other natural materials.  The pitch of these instruments comes from a vibrating column of air inside the tube; to create various sounds in the tube, the player needs to utilize the valves  or the slide  to change the pitch. Guides to check out: Horns Trombones Trumpets Related instruments: Conch Shell,  Cornet,  Mellophone,  Sousaphone,  Tuba

Woodwinds

Woodwind instruments  used to be made of wood, hence the name; nowadays we also know them as wind instruments.   The player makes the sound by vibrating the column of air inside of the tube.  This is done by either blowing across an open edge, as in a root beer bottle, or by blowing between a reed  and the fixed surface of the instrument.   The pitch is changed by opening and closing the holes along the instrument's length. Guides to check out: Bassoons Clarinets Didgeridoos Flutes Oboes Saxophones Related instruments: Bagpipes,  English Horn,  Recorder,  Pennywhistle

 

Strings

String instruments  are obviously composed of strings  of different lengths, thickness, and density.  The sound is made when the player creates vibration on the strings, either by plucking or bowing.   Slower vibration will give a lower pitch, and faster vibration a higher sound.  Guides to check out: Cellos Double Bass Harps Violas Violins Related instruments: Banjo,  Guitar,  Lute,  Lyre,  Mandolin,  Zither

Percussion

Percussion instruments  are classified as just about anything that you can whack with a stick.  (Being more refined, the player uses a drum stick  or mallet. )  In these instruments, the sound source is a vibrating membrane or vibrating piece of solid material, made to vibrate by hitting with different forces.  Some forms of percussion  also involve instruments that are shaken, rubbed, or somehow moved to cause vibration. Guides to check out: Cymbals Drum Sets Related instruments: Bongo,  Chimes,  Cow Bell,  Gong,  Maracas,  Steel Drum,  Tonga,  Triangle,  Xylophone

Keyboards

Made of fine-crafted wood or other materials, keyboard instruments  come in various forms.  Pianos  get their sound when the player presses a key,  which causes a felt hammer inside to hit a string and vibrate.  The vibrating string inside produces the sound; the more force used on a key, the louder the sound.  In some cases, the force from the key will direct air to come out of a pipe  instead.  In the case of digital keyboards,  electronic signals turn into vibrations through a complex system called MIDI.     Guides to check out: Accordions Electric Keyboards Pianos Related instruments: Baby Grand Piano,  Grand Piano,  Harpischord,  Organ,  Upright Piano

External Links

• DSOKids.com: A chart for kids outlining the different musical families.
• ThinkQuest.org: An introduction to music theory.
• Wikipedia.org: A lengthy description of musical instrument classification.