- Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double bass.
- Woodwinds: Flute, Piccolo, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Bass clarinet, English Horn, Contrabassoon and Saxophone.
- Brass: Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba,
What are the most common instruments played in an orchestra?
These are the percussion instruments you will typically find in an orchestra:
- Snare Drum
- Timpani
- Triangle
- Bass Drum
- Cymbals
- Gong
- Vibraphone
- Piano
What are the different types of instruments in an orchestra?
What Are the Different Types of Orchestras?
- Symphony. A symphony orchestra consists of a group of 50 to 100 musicians. ...
- Chamber. A chamber orchestra is a smaller version of a symphony and has less than 50 musicians. ...
- String. The smallest orchestra is the string orchestra, which is comprised solely of string instruments such as the violin, viola and cello.
What is the most important instrument in an orchestra?
What should you not do in an orchestra?
- Show up half an hour late… …
- Show up in sweaty gym clothes, forgetting it’s a two-hour rehearsal in a space that shouldn’t even be classified as a room.
- Leave your instrument in a cold place so it doesn’t warm up in time.
What is the most popular instrument in the orchestra?
What Are the Most Popular Musical Instruments?
- Guitar. Whether they are acoustic or electric, concert or rock, guitars are the most popular musical instruments in modern times.
- Piano/Keyboard. The piano formerly ruled the top spot as the most popular instrument many decades ago. ...
- Violin. ...
- Drums Set. ...
- Saxophone. ...
- Flute. ...
- Trumpet. ...
- Clarinet. ...
- Cello. ...
- Harp. ...
What are 5 instruments in an orchestra?
Instruments of the OrchestraString family. Violin. Viola [vee-OH-lah] Cello (violoncello) [CHEL-low] ... Woodwind family. Flute, Piccolo. Oboe, English horn. Clarinet, Bass clarinet. ... Brass family. Trumpet. Horn (French horn) Trombone. ... Keyboards and Harp. Celesta [cheh-LESS-tah] Piano. Harpsichord.
How many instruments are in a full orchestra?
A total of forty-four are used in full orchestras. The string family is the largest family in the orchestra, accounting for over half of the total number of musicians on stage. The string instruments all have carved, hollow, wooden bodies with four strings running from top to bottom.
What are the main instruments sections in an orchestra?
There are four main sections in the orchestra; the strings, the woodwinds, the brass and the percussion.
What are the 7 instrument families?
Some commonly recognized families are:Strings family.Keyboard family.Woodwind family.Brass family.Percussion family.
What are the 6 families of instruments?
The great majority of musical instruments fall readily into one of six major categories: bowed strings, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard, and the guitar family, the first four of which form the basis of the modern symphony orchestra.
What does an orchestra consists of?
A Symphony Orchestra is defined as a large ensemble composed of wind, string, brass and percussion instruments and organized to perform classical music. Wind instruments include flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoons. String instruments include harp, violin, viola, cello, and double bass.
How many instrument families are in an orchestra?
four familiesThese characteristics ultimately divide instruments into four families: woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings.
What are the four parts of an orchestra?
The Four Sections refers to the four sections of the orchestra: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
What are the four main instruments in an orchestra?
There are four main families of instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Here is how an orchestra is often set up:
Which instrument carries the melody in an orchestral work?
Usually a soloist will stand, and violinists in an orchestra will sit. The violin often carries the melody in an orchestral work as its brilliant sound carries easily over many of the other instruments.
Why is the oboe more of a specialty instrument?
Because the length of the instrument is shorter than the flute, the pitch is higher, but it operates the same way. It is more of a specialty instrument, used when the part to be played is especially high. The oboe does not have a mouthpiece like the flute and the piccolo.
How many strings does a bass player have?
It may also have 5 strings rather than 4 with the addition of a lower string. Because of its size (taller than the performer), the bassist stands or sits on a tall stool to play the instrument, which rests on the floor. The harp, another stringed instrument, is nothing like the rest of the string family.
How many sections are there in a violin?
There are usually two sections of violins, first violins and second violins, and they play different parts (different music has been written for each group). A little larger than the violin but played in the same manner, the viola is the next lower member of the string family.
What are the strings on a guitar made of?
Four strings made of gut, synthetics, or steel are wrapped around pegs at one end of the instrument, tightly stretched across a bridge, and attached to a tailpiece at the other end. The pegs are used to tune the instrument (change the length of the string until it makes exactly the right sound).
How do strings vibrate in a guitar?
The player makes the strings vibrate by plucking them, striking them, strumming them, or, most frequently, by drawing a bow across them. The bow is made of wood and horsehair.
What is the highest sounding instrument in the orchestra?
The flu te. The flute is the highest sounding of the standard orchestra woodwind instruments (although the piccolo is higher). It’s played played by blowing air across a hole in the mouthpiece. Because it’s higher in pitch, like the violin, it will often play the melody of a piece.
What are the four families of instruments?
The four families are: the string family. the woodwind family. the brass family. the percussion family. Each instrument in the orchestra fits into one of these groups depending on different characteristics they have in common. For example, instruments in the string section unsurprisingly have strings!
What is a vibraphone?
Vibraphone. The vibraphone (also known as vibes) is a keyboard style percussion instrument that is made up of tuned metal bars. Vibraphonists play by striking the bars with a mallet which then produces the sound. It also has a sustain pedal (like a piano) that can make the notes last longer.
What is a woodwind instrument made of?
Nowadays most of the instruments in the woodwind family are made out of metal or plastic but they used to all be made out of wood, hence the name woodwind. Woodwind instruments are played by blowing air into the mouthpiece where it travels down a tube.
How do you change the pitch of a woodwind instrument?
Players can change the pitch by playing keys which cover up different holes and depending on where the air escapes it produces different pitches. The four main instruments in the woodwind section (in order of highest to lowest pitch) are: Flute. Oboe.
What is the lowest sounding instrument in the brass section?
The Tuba. The tuba. The lowest sounding instrument in the brass section is the tuba. It is one of the youngest instruments in an orchestra first being used in the mid 19th century. It’s quite large so is usually placed on the lap of the musician and uses valves to play notes of different pitch.
What is the highest sounding brass instrument?
The trumpet. The trumpet is the highest sounding of the brass instruments and has been around for a long time. As long ago as 1500 BC! A trumpet has three valves that the player can press to extend or shorten the distance that the air has to travel. This changes the pitch of the note.
What are the instruments in the Chicago Symphony?
String instruments are (from smallest to largest) the violin, viola, cello, and bass. All string instruments are played with a bow or plucked. In this excerpt from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, you'll first see the cello that is played while seated, with the instrument positioned between the legs. Next, you'll hear the famous "Ode to Joy" theme, which is introduced by the basses (the very tall instruments that are played while standing), then by the violas, then the violins, and finally by the whole Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Riccardo Muti.
What are the instruments that make up woodwind?
Woodwind Instruments. Woodwind instruments include the oboe, flute, clarinet and bassoon. In this video clip you'll see and hear the flute, followed by the clarinet and then the bassoon.
What is a percussion instrument?
Percussion Instruments. Percussion instruments are "hit" or "struck" to produce a sound. Percussion players are usually positioned at the rear of the orchestra. This video shows members of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony percussion team in a rehearsal of "Scherherazade," a concert piece by Russian composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
String Family
The string family instruments make their sound when their strings vibrate, either by pulling the bow across them or plucking them with your fingers.
Woodwind Family
Woodwind family instruments make sound when air vibrates through the instrument, usually caused by the vibrations of a reed.
Brass Family
In the brass family, sound is made when the musician buzzes, or vibrates, their lips into the instrument.
Percussion Family
Percussion family instruments make sound when the instrument is shaken or hit, causing a surface on the instrument to vibrate.
What Are The Sections of The Orchestra?
String Section
- There are four standard instruments in the string section (in order of highest to lowest pitch) are: 1. Violin 2. Viola 3. Cello (violoncello) 4. Double bass Each of these instruments is made out of wood and are played using a bowwhich is pulled across the strings creating vibration and sound. They vary quite a lot in size though, let’s take a look at the smallest of the string instruments: th…
Brass Section
- The brass section is made up of instruments which are essentially long pipes that musicians blow air into. They press their mouths to the mouthpiece and blow air down it by buzzing their lips. Just like blowing a ‘raspberry’! The four instruments in a standard orchestra brass section (in order of highest to lowest pitch) are: 1. Trumpet 2. French h...
Woodwind Section
- Nowadays most of the instruments in the woodwind family are made out of metal or plastic but they used to all be made out of wood, hence the name woodwind. Woodwind instruments are played by blowing air into the mouthpiece where it travels down a tube. Players can change the pitch by playing keys which cover up different holes and depending on where the air escapes it p…
Percussion Section
- Lastly, we’re going to take a look at the percussion family of instruments. Percussion instruments are played by either hitting, shaking or scraping them to produce their sound. There are two types of percussion instruments. 1. Pitched 2. Unpitched This means that some of the percussion instruments can produce differently pitched notes whereas others make a sound without a defin…
Summing Up
- Anyway, I hope that helps to make a bit more sense of some of the instruments in an orchestra. I’ll be updating this post soon with some of the different ranges of the instruments, which clefs they read in and specific techniques that certain instruments use. If you have any questions though just post a comment below!