Musical Instruments

Erika L. Rodriguez Ramirez

COMU 2019 Section 001
Prof. Enóc Díaz
 What is a musical
Instrument?
A musical instrument is a device
constructed or modified for the purpose of
making music. In principle, anything that
produces sound can serve as a musical
instrument. The term "musical
instrument", however, is generally
reserved for items that have a specific
musical purpose.
Types of Musical Instruments
 These categories are based on the
mechanism by which the instrument
makes its sound.
 String Instruments
 Percussion Instruments
 Wind Instrumets
 Brass Intrumets
 String Instruments
Their sound is made by a vibrating
string. Strings can be made of metal,
synthetic or natural materials. The
strings can have different gauge or
thickness, weight,length and tension.
Pictures of Some String
Instruments
 Piano

 The piano is a musical instrument played

by means of a keyboard that produces
sound by striking steel strings with felt
hammers that immediately rebound
allowing the strings to continue vibrating
at their resonant frequency. These
vibrations are transmitted through a
bridge to a soundboard that amplifies
them.
 Guitar

 The guitar is a musical instrument

with ancient roots that is used in a
wide variety of musical styles. It
typically has six strings, but four,
seven, eight, ten, and twelve string
guitars also exist.
 Violin

The violin is a bowed string

instrument with four strings tuned in
perfect fifths. It is the smallest and
highest-pitched member of the violin
family of string instruments.
 Other Members of the violin
family
 Cello

 Viola

 Bass
 Harp

 The harp is not like any other

member of the string family. It has
about 45 strings stretched across its
tall triangular frame. The strings are
plucked by hand while seven pedals
at the bottom of the harp adjust the
length of the strings to produce
additional notes.
 Percussion Instruments
 With a name that means, "the hitting
of one body against another,"
instruments in the percussion
family are played by being struck,
shaken, or scraped. In the orchestra,
the percussion section provides a
variety of rhythms, textures and tone
colors.
Pictures of Some Percussion
Instruments
 Triangle

 The triangle is made from a small

round steel tube, and is played by
striking it with a steel beater. Its
bright shimmering sound is untuned
and resembles that of a bell.
 Chimes

 Chimes are a tuned instrument

consisting of a set of 12 to 18 metal
tubes hung from a metal frame. The
chimes, or tubular bells, are struck
with a mallet and sound like church
bells when played. The longer the
length of tube that is struck, the
lower the pitch that is created.
 Xylophone

 The xylophone is a tuned

instrument made of hardwood bars in
graduated lengths set horizontally on
a metal frame. Striking the bars with
hard mallets produces a bright, sharp
sound. The xylophone was originally
modeled after an African instrument
and its name is Greek, meaning
"wood sound".
 Tambourine

 The tambourine is a shallow, handheld

drum made of a circular wooden frame
with a calfskin or plastic drumhead
stretched across the top. The tambourine
has small discs called jingles set into its
circular frame which produce sound when
the tambourine is shaken, rubbed, or
struck on the drum head with the
knuckles.
 Bass Drum

 The bass drum is much larger than a

snare drum and is played on its side,
so that either head may be struck.
The beater or mallet for a bass drum
is large with a soft material such as
sheep's wool covering the end.
 Cymbals

 Cymbals are made from two large,

slightly concave brass plates, are fitted
with leather hand straps and are shaped
so that when they are crashed together,
only the edges touch. Although cymbals
are untuned instruments, different sized
cymbals produce a wide range of sound
effects.
 Wind Instruments

 The three branches of the

woodwind family have different
sources of sound. Vibrations begin
when air is blown across the top of
an instrument, across a single reed,
or across two reeds.
Pictures of Some Wind
Intruments
 Piccolo

 The piccolo is exactly like the flute

except that it is much smaller and is
usually made of silver or wood. The
pitch of the piccolo is higher than
that of a flute.
 Oboe

 The oboe is similar to the clarinet in

many ways. Both are made from
wood and have metal keys that can
produce many notes rapidly. It has
two reeds tied together. By placing
them between one's lips and blowing
air through them, the reeds vibrate
and produce a sound.
 Saxophone

 Conicallyshaped, the saxophone is

the only woodwind instrument made
of brass. Although it is found only
occasionally in the symphony
orchestra, it is considered a member
of the woodwind family because it
has a single reed like the clarinet.
 Flute

 The flute is now made from silver or

gold and is about 2 feet in length. It
looks like a narrow tube with a row of
holes covered by keys along one
side. The player blows air across the
small hole in the mouthpiece to
produce a sound that can be either
soft and mellow or high and piercing.
 Brass Instruments
 Brass Family instruments produce
their unique sound by the player
buzzing his/her lips while blowing air
through a cup- or funnel-shaped
mouthpiece. To produce higher or
lower pitches, the player adjusts the
opening between his/her lips. The
mouthpiece connects to a length of
brass tubing ending in a bell.
Pictures of some Brass
Instruments
 Tuba

 Thetuba is the lowest sounding

member of the brass family. The
tuba has four to five valves and is
held upright in the player’s lap.
 Trombone

 The trombone is larger than that of

a trumpet, and gives the instrument
a more mellow sound. Instead of
valves, the trombone has a slide
which changes the length of its
approximately 9 feet of tubing to
reach different pitches.
 Trumpet

 The trumpet is the highest sounding

member of the brass family. The
player presses the three valves in
various combinations with the fingers
of the right hand to obtain various
pitches
Thank You