arts
Get to Know
Elements of Art
music
Musical Instruments
Click on each instrument below to hear it play.
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- Smallest member of the string family
- Played under the musician's chin
- Has four strings
- The concertmaster is the lead violinist that acts as the leader of the orchestra
- String instrument a bit bigger than the violin
- Played under the musician's chin
- Has four strings
- The sound is often compared to the human voice
- Second lowest orchestra string instrument
- Played between a seated musician's knees
- Rests on the ground when played
- Biggest and lowest string family instrument
- A musician stands or leans on stool to play it
- A full-size bass is 6.5 feet tall
- Woodwind family instrument, but usually made of metal
- A musician's vibrating breath creates the sound
- The oldest instruments ever found are flutes (over 40,000 years old)
- Woodwind family instrument
- Has a double reed: two pieces of wood that vibrate to make the sound
- Plays the "tuning A" to help musicians tune before a concert
- Woodwind family instrument
- Has a single reed that vibrates to make the sound
- Used commonly in both orchestras and jazz
- Lowest member of the woodwind family
- Double reed instrument
- The body would be over 8 feet long if uncurled
- String family instrument
- An orchestral harp weighs over 90 pounds
- Some harps have pedals which, when engaged, change the pitch of each string
Ready to take the quiz?
Test your knowledge of the orchestra's instruments by choosing the right instrument after you hear the sound it makes.
We will play a sound from one of the instruments.
Click on which instrument you think it is and see if you got it right.
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String and Woodwinds
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- Brass instrument that's used in many ensembles: orchestra, concert band, jazz bands, and more
- Uses 6.5 feet of tubing (that's as tall as a double bass!)
- The trumpet only has 3 valves but you can play 45 different notes using those valves
- Brass instrument that uses over 12 feet of tubing
- Earliest types of horns were used by hunters to call back and forth across forests and fields
- It has the biggest note range of any brass instrument
- This brass instrument uses 9 feet of tubing
- The trombone uses the slide to change its pitch. It doesn't have valves like other brass instruments.
- Fun fact: the word for paper clip in French is trombone- they do look pretty similar, don't they?!
- Lowest member of the brass family
- It wasn't invented until 1835
- A tuba's tubing is 18 feet long
- Snare drums have several wire-covered strings that stretch across the bottom that vibrate and buzz when the drum is hit
- It's used in all sorts of music and is the main instrument in a rock band drum set
- They are usually hit with hard, wooden drum sticks
- When you crash cymbals together, only their outer edges touch
- They can be all sizes, from small finger cymbals up to big 2-foot diameter cymbals
- They can be played in many ways: crashed together, hit while hanging on a stand, scratched or scraped with something hard, etc.
- They are pitched percussion instruments - that means they can play different notes
- Timpanists use tuning pedals to change the drum's pitch
- Timpani is the plural. One drum alone is called a timpano
- This is the largest and lowest sounding drum in the orchestra
- Orchestra bass drums are normally 30-40 inches in diameter
- Musicians often attach towels or lean on the drum head to dampen the sound
Ready to take the quiz?
Test your knowledge of the orchestra's instruments by choosing the right instrument after you hear the sound it makes.
