If you are looking for an instrument to play, or need to know some details about instruments for a project or exam, then this article will be great for you. Musical instruments are divided into four categories: String, Brass, Woodwind and Percussion.
String- Violin, Viola, Cello, Double bass.
The violin is the smallest and most high-pitched and uses the treble clef.
The viola is slightly bigger than the violin and the tone is lower. It uses the alto clef.
The Cello is bigger than the viola, and the tone is even lower. It uses the bass clef, and the tenor clef for higher notes.
The Double bass is the largest and the lowest-pitched instrument in the string family. It uses only the bass clef.
Brass- Trumpet, Horns, Trombones, Tuba.
The Trumpet is the highest-pitched brass instrument and uses only the treble clef. A mute is sometimes used to reduce the tone of the trumpet.
The Horn is a transposing instrument, which produces a sound a perfect 5th lower than written in music notation. It uses the treble clef.
The trombone is the biggest of the brass instruments. It uses a slide to produce sound. It uses the bass and tenor clef, but sometimes the alto clef for the highest notes.
The Tuba is the lowest pitched instrument in the brass group. It uses only the bass clef.
Woodwind- Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon.
The Flute has the highest pitch among the woodwind instruments. It is held sideways and the player blows across the hole to produce sound. The flute usualy plays the melody of a song. It uses the treble clef.
The Oboe is shaped conically and is held vertically downwards. Players blow into the mouthpiece at the top which is fitted a double reed. The oboe can sound the note A at concert pitch for orchestras to tune their instruments. The oboe uses the treble clef.
There are two types of Clarinets- Clarinet in A (which produces a sound a minor 3rd lower than written) and Clarinet in B flat (produces a sound a major 2nd lower than written). The Clarinet use the treble clef.
The Bassoon has the lowest pitch among the woodwind family. It uses a double reed like the Oboe. The bassoon uses the bass clef, and for the highest notes, the tenor clef is used.
Percussion- Timpani, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Xylophone, Tubular Bells, Bass Drums, Triangles, Castanets, Gongs, Cymbals.
An instrument can be defined as percussion when you can "hit" it to make a sound.
All percussion instruments are used to keep time, rhythm or add a particular feeling to a piece. There is debate whether the piano is a string instrument (because of the strings inside) or a percussion instrument (because you hit the keys). Many refer the the piano as both.
Hopefully you have learnt a lot from this article, just bookmark it for further use! Good luck on your music journey!
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