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Meet the Instruments |
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| The Four Families |
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The Woodwind Family The woodwind family gets its name because it originally contained wind instruments made of wood. Today, the flutes are made of metal and the other "blown" instruments have metal parts. They make their sounds as wind passes through various lengths of hollow tubing. The basic members of this family are the FLUTE, OBOE, CLARINET, and BASSOON. |
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The FLUTE has silvery tones which are among the most beautiful sounds in the orchestra. The flute's close relative, the PICCOLO, can play the highest notes of all the wind instruments. |
Click to Sample Flute
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The CLARINET is a single reed instrument. It plays a wide range of music from classical to jazz. It also has a very wide range of notes that can be played. The BASS CLARINET is a larger and lower sounding relative of the clarinet. |
Click to Sample Clarinet
Click to Sample Bass Clarinet
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The OBOE is known as a double-reed instrument. The player's breath passes between two small surfaces of bamboo reed. This sets up the vibrations which make the tone you hear. Composers often give the melody to the oboe when they want the music to have a plaintive (sad) sound or when they want to describe a peaceful pastoral scene in music. The oboe has a larger relative called the ENGLISH HORN which has a sad tone quality and is lower in pitch. |
Click to Sample Oboe
Click to Sample English Horn
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The BASSOON, like the oboe, is a double reed instrument. It is much larger and therefore has a much lower voice. It provides the bass part for the woodwind family, but is sometimes used to play the melody. It can be funny too, when the composer gives it a comical tune to play. It is occasionally referred to as the "clown" of the orchestra. Its still larger relative, the CONTRABASSOON, plays the lowest notes possible among the woodwind instruments. |
Click to Sample Bassoon
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