3. How do they make sound?
The woodwind family consists of piccolos, flutes,
oboes, english horns, clarinets, bassoons, and
saxophones.
With the exception of the piccolo and flute, the sound
is produced by a vibrating reed.
Different pitches are produced by opening and
covering holes along the instrument
5. How do they make sound?
The brass family typically consists of trumpets, French
horns, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas.
Sound is produced by forcing air through the
mouthpiece.
With the exception of the trombone, pitches are
altered by pressing or releasing valves.
All brass players also tighten or relax their lips to
change pitch.
7. How do they make sound?
The percussion family contains the most instruments.
Some of the standard instruments include the bass
drum, snare drum, timpani, bells, cymbals, and the
triangle.
Sound is produced by striking some part of the
instrument with a mallet, stick, or hands.
Not all percussion instruments can produce multiple
pitches. In most cases the pitch of the instrument is
dependent on the size of the instrument.
8. How is the pitch of instruments
determined?
As was mentioned earlier, the biggest determining
factor in the pitch an instrument produces is the size
of the instrument.
The distance that air travels in the instrument also
determines the pitch.
9. Generally…
The larger and longer an instrument is, the lower the
pitch.
The smaller and shorter an instrument, the higher the
pitch.
10. One of the easiest ways to see this is
with the trombone.
The higher the note
is on the staff, the
higher the pitch of
the note.
Notice how the
trombone slide gets
longer as the notes
get lower?
11. Some things you can try on your
own:
Hold a rubber band so
that it is stretched
between two fingers.
Pluck the rubber band.
Now, increase the
distance between your
fingers, stretching the
rubber band. Pluck the
rubber band again.
12. What do you notice about
the sound? Does it sound
lower or higher than
before?
Try the same thing with
rubber bands of different
widths. What do you
notice?
