IES Las Encinas 1º de ESO Proyecto Bilingüe

Unit 5:

Instrument families

INDEX:

1. Instrument families

2. The orchestra

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Basic vocabulary

Bow: arco

To bow: frotar.

Brass instrument: instrumentos de viento metal.

Double bass: contrabajo.

Edge: bisel.

Electrophones: electrófonos.

Embouchure: embocadura.

Feathers: plumas.

Guitar: guitarra.

Hammer: martillo.

Harp: arpa.

Horn: trompa.

To join: unir, juntar.

Lute: laúd.

To pluck: puntear.

To shake: agitar.

Slide brass instruments: instrumentos de viento metal de varas.

Stick: palo.

To strike: golpear.

String instruments: instrumentos de cuerda.

To Stretch: extender.
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Reed: lengüeta (single-reed: lengüeta simple; double-reed: lengüeta doble).

Trumpet: trompeta.

Trombone: trombón.

To rub: frotar.

Valved brass: instrumentos de viento metal de válvulas.

Woodwind instrument: instrumentos de viento madera.

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1. Instrument families

There are different ways to classify musical instruments. One way is to group

them as they are in a Western orchestra: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

1.1. String instruments

A string instrument is a

musical instrument that produces

sound by strings that vibrate. The

most common string instruments

are violin, cello, viola, double bass,

guitar, and harp.

All string instruments

produce sound from one or more

vibrating strings. The body of the instrument then transmits the sound to the

surrounding air. They are usually categorized by the technique used to make the

strings vibrate. The three most common techniques are bowing, plucking, and striking

1.1.1. Bowing

Bowing (Italian: Arco) is a method used in some string instruments, including

the violin, viola, cello, and the double bass. The bow consists of a stick with many

hairs stretched between its ends that make the string vibrate.

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Violin Viola

Cello Double bass

Bow

1.1.2. Plucking

Plucking (Italian: pizzicato) is the method of playing by using a finger or by

some type of plectrum on instruments such as the guitar, harp or lute. This category

includes keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord, which uses feathers (now

plastic plectra) to pluck the strings.

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1.1.3. Striking

The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to

strike the string with a hammer. By far the most well-known instrument to use this

method is the piano.

1.2. Woodwind instruments

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when

the player blows air against an edge or a thin piece of wood called a reed. Most of

these instruments were originally made of wood, but some, such as the saxophone

and some flutes, are now commonly made of other materials like metals or plastics.

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Types of woodwind instruments:

• Single-reed instruments use just one reed. When air is

forced between the reed and the mouthpiece, the

reed vibrates, creating the sound. Single reed

instruments include the clarinet and saxophone

families.

• Double-reed instruments use two small pieces of cane

joined together at the base. The air vibrates between

the two pieces of cane. Double-reed instruments

include the oboe, the cor anglais or the bassoon.

• Flutes produce sound when air is blown across a hole.

Flutes include transverse flutes and the recorder family.

Clarinet Oboe

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1.3. Brass instruments

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration

of the player’s lips into an "embouchure". Modern brass instruments generally come

in one of two families: valved brass instruments that use a set of valves to change the

pitch and slide brass instruments that use a slide to change the length of tubing. The

main brass instruments are the horn, the trumpet, the trombone and the tuba.

Trumpet Horn

Tuba Trombone

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1.4. Percussion instruments

A percussion

instrument is any object

which produces a sound by

being hit with an implement,

shaken, rubbed, scraped, or

by any other action which

makes the object vibrate.

When classifying

instruments by function it is

useful to note if a percussion instrument makes a definite pitch or indefinite pitch. For

example, some percussion instruments (such as the marimba and timpani) produce an

obvious fundamental pitch and can therefore play melody and serve harmonic

functions in music. Other instruments (such as drum and crash cymbal) produce

sounds with such complex overtones and a wide range of prominent frequencies that

one can’t distinguish a pitch. Some of the main percussion instruments are the drum,

the timpani, the xylophone, the vibraphone, the marimba or the triangle.

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Finally, the electrophones are instruments that keep their acoustic resonators

but are also amplified and altered electronically, for instance the electric guitar.

2. The orchestra

An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually with string, brass, woodwind

sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. A smaller orchestra (of about fifty

musicians or fewer) is called a chamber orchestra. A full size orchestra (about 100

musicians) may sometimes be called a symphony orchestra.

Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by using visible

gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have

conductors.

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Exercise 1: Match with arrows!

A brass instrument

A percussion instrument

A woodwind instrument

A string instrument

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Exercise 2: Write some examples for the different instrument families:

String:____________________________________________________________________________________

Woodwind:______________________________________________________________________________

Brass:_____________________________________________________________________________________

Percussion:_______________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 4: Write the instrument family name for each colour, then fill in the blanks:

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Exercise 5: Do you know what this is? What instruments use this

object? Do you know what its function is?

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