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ah the orchestra it's just a group of
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musicians getting together to make music
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how do they make these instruments work
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which instruments are related and why to
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start we can break the instruments into
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four families each family is grouped by
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the way the instrument produces
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vibration this kind of classification
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gives us the string family the woodwind
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family the brass family and the
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percussion family when you think of the
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orchestra you most likely think of the
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violin or at least some sort of string
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instrument this is probably because they
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make up the majority of the instruments
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in the orchestra so good thinking all
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string instruments use string vibration
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to produce sound so it makes sense that
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they are called the string family there
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are four main string instruments these
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are the violin the viola the cello and
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the bass each of these instruments can
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be plucked or bowed as you can see here
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the main difference between the four
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instruments is their size as with any
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instrument smaller it is the higher
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pitches it plays and the larger the
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instrument is the lower pitches it plays
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a very common arrangement would have the
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violins playing the melody and the
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violas cellos and basses playing
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supporting roles this is not always the
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case but it's important to know these
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instruments are some of the oldest
1:50
instruments made for the modern
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orchestra and some early orchestral
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music is even written solely for this
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lastly the harp and the piano are
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sometimes included in the string family
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just depending on the time period when
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the music was being played the next
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largest section of the orchestra is
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usually the woodwind family
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most woodwind instruments use a small
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piece of wood called a reed to produce
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their vibration the reed vibrates when
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air is blown across it this is how
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instruments like the clarinet work
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saxophones also use a read this is why
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they are classified as a woodwind and
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not a brass instrument as far as
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instruments go saxophones are fairly new
3:01
having only been created in the
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mid-1840s because of this there aren't
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really many orchestral pieces that
3:08
include saxophone some would win
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instruments have a read that has two
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parts called a double reed instruments
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like the oboe and the bassoon use a
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double reed in this case both reeds
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vibrate and tend to create a nasal sound
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there's also one woodwind which uses
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just the wind part it's the flute the
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fluent does not have a read instead the
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player just blows across a hole in the
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instrument much like you would do if you
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were blowing across the top of a pop
3:44
bottle you might have noticed that this
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family has all the instruments with a
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ton of buttons or keeses are actually
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called on them one of the most
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challenging parts of playing woodwind
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instrument is just knowing which keys to
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press down and getting your fingers to
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the right spots without getting tangled
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once mastered a wood one player can play
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quickly with ease as you can hear in box
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in the orchestra the higher pitch
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woodwinds like flute and oboe tend to
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play the melody while lower pitch
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woodwinds like bassoon tend to play
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supporting harmonic parts it's on to the
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brass family the brass family gets its
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name from the shiny material that its
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instruments are made from all brass
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instruments use the players lip
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vibration and air to make sound the
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players lips vibrate rapidly against a
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metal mouthpiece and the buzzing sound
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produced bounces and echoes its way
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through the instrument to make a tone
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you're probably familiar with unlike the
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woodwind instruments brass instruments
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have few keys in fact the trombone
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doesn't have any keys it just uses a
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slide of course the brass player does
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have more than just three notes
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available to them through pressing the
5:22
keys brass players also change notes
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through changing the shape of their lips
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where tenser lips play higher pitches
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and looser lips play lower pitches if
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you've heard taps you've heard a brass
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player just using their lips to change
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the five main brass instruments in the
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orchestra are the trumpet the horn the
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trombone the euphonium and the tuba in
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the orchestra trumpets and horns
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occasionally play the melody but much of
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the brass sections job is to play
6:14
supporting notes all the way in the back
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of the orchestra we have the percussion
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family known for its loud banging and
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crashing the percussion family has
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instruments that are struck or shaken to
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make their vibrations early orchestras
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didn't have much percussion and usually
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just had low pitched drums called
6:35
timpani or kettle drums to accompany the
6:38
melody other drums like the snare drum
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and the bass drum were added later and
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apparently composers really like
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percussion instruments because they
6:49
haven't stopped adding to the long list
6:50
of available sounds aside from drums the
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percussion family includes cymbals
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auxiliary percussion liked the
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tambourine triangle shakers or maracas
7:01
and mallet instruments like bells
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xylophone and marimba most of the time
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percussion instruments play a supporting
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role though bells in xylophone
7:11
occasionally get the melody you now know
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that the four families of the orchestra
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are the string woodwind brass and
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percussion families the string family
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uses string vibration the woodwind
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family uses read and air vibration the
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brass family uses lip vibration and the
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percussion family contains instruments
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that are struck or shaken to make
