- - Wind instruments
- Woodwind Instruments
- Brass Instruments
- - Percussion instruments
- - String instruments
- Rubbed rope
- Percussed rope
- Plucked
- References
The instrument families there are three: wind, string and percussion. The instruments themselves are objects created to generate music. There are many instruments and of very varied shapes and sizes, and of different construction materials. They are grouped into families that share similar sound characteristics.
- Wind instruments
Wind instruments are so named because the sound they emit is caused by the vibration of air in the tube.
They are made of wood or metal. The wooden ones, they are called this way because in their beginnings they were made with wood, currently they are made of metal or plastic.
When a wind instrument is blown, a column of air inside the tube vibrates, causing the sound. The thicker and longer the tube, the lower the sound.
Woodwind Instruments
The most important woodwind instruments are, from high to low, the transverse flute, the oboe, the clarinet and the bassoon.
Each of them has an instrument with a similar sound. The transverse flute sounds similar to the piccolo flute.
The oboe resembles the English horn. The clarinet is similar to the bass clarinet and the bassoon sounds like the contrabassoon. To vary the sounds in different notes they have mechanisms called keys.
Another widely used woodwind instrument is the saxophone. Although it is made of metal, the mouth is made of wood.
Woodwind instruments have a quieter sound than brass instruments, which sound louder.
Brass Instruments
Those of wind-metal are, from high to low trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. They are always located at the end of an orchestra because they are the ones with the loudest sound.
They consist of a rolled metal tube that ends in a bell shape to amplify the sound.
The highest is the trumpet that uses pistons for the different notes. The horn is lower and uses keys for the notes.
The trombone is even more serious and uses pistons or it can have a rod to vary the notes. The largest and lowest is the tuba, and you can use keys or pistons for notes.
- Percussion instruments
Percussion instruments can be divided into two groups; those of determined and indeterminate tuning.
Those of certain tuning can give several notes in tune, and can play a melody. For example the xylophone, celesta or tubular bells.
Those with indeterminate pitch are those that emit sounds that do not correspond to the notes. Like the kick, snare, drums, and triangle.
- String instruments
They are the instruments that use strings to emit sounds. The vibration of the string occurs through different mechanisms.
The highest sound is achieved with the shorter strings or by pulling the strings tight. To amplify the sound they have a sound box.
Rubbed rope
The rubbed string instruments use a bow to produce the sound, and are from high to low like the violin, viola, cello, and double bass.
Percussed rope
When the sound is produced by striking the string, it is called a struck string. The best example is the piano, by pressing a key, a mechanism is activated that gives movement to a hammer that hits the piano string.
Plucked
The remaining instruments are plucked-string instruments, in which the strings are plucked to produce sounds. Examples are the harp and the guitar.
References
- «What are the families of musical instruments» in Saberia - Saber (October 2014). Recovered in September 2017 in Saberia-Saber: saberia.com
- "Instruments and instrumental families" in Mar de Alboran (January 2009). Recovered in September 2017 in Mar de Alboran: maralboran.org
- "The instrumental families" in Musical instruments. Recovered in September 2017 in Musical instruments: corazonistas.edurioja.org
- "Classification of musical instruments by family" in the Musical Arts Blog (April 2010). Recovered in September 2017 in Musical Arts Blog: rsartesmusicales.blogspot.com.ar.