1. Lesson Questions How many musicians are in a typical orchestra?
What are the families of instruments that make up an orchestra?
How has the orchestra evolved into the modern day orchestra?

2. The Instruments of the Orchestra

3. Overview History of the Orchestra Modern Arrangement of Families
Meet the Woodwinds
Meet the Strings & Harp
Meet the Brass Instruments
Meet the Percussion Instruments

4. History of the Orchestra
Originates from ancient Greece.
First purpose was to accompany plays.
Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer used orchestra to accompany his first opera, Orfeo.
Had 40 players
Violins & viols
Flutes
Shawms (early oboes)
Trumpets
Sackbuts (early trombones)
Harpsichord, organ, and harp

5. Modern Arrangement of Instruments

6. Meet The Woodwinds Woodwinds are basically tubes pierced with holes.
They produce sound through the vibration of the air column inside the tube.
Some woodwinds have reeds. A reed is a thin piece of cane that vibrates when blown across.
Piccolo: Highest Pitched; Mimics sound of bird; Smallest of family
Flute: No Reed
Clarinet: Single Reed; Expressive tone
Oboe: Double Reed; Sad tone
Bassoon: Double Reed; Lowest Pitched

7. WOODWINDS
Clarinet
Double Reed
Bassoon
Flute
Oboe
Piccolo

8. Meet the Strings & Harp Largest Section of the Orchestra
Crafted by carving, shaping and glueing wood pieces together; no nails or screws are used.
Each instrument has four strings, the vibrations of which makes the instrument sound.
Come in many sizes:
the larger the instrument, the lower the sound,
the smaller the instrument, the higher the sound.
Sound is made on string instruments by playing their strings two ways; plucking or bowing.
Violin: Smallest member of family
Viola: Slightly larger than violin with a much warmer and lower tone
Cello: Bass member of family; musician must sit to play instrument
Double Bass: Lowest pitch of family; mostly played while standing
Harp: Largest of family; has 45 strings

9. STRINGS & HARP
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double
Bass
Harp

10. Meet the Brass Instruments
Metallic loops of tubing, in different lengths, with a mouthpiece at one end and a bell shape at the other.
The longer the length of tubing, the lower the sound.
Brass players' lips act as reeds.
Sound is produced by buzzing with the lips while blowing in the mouthpiece.
Most have valves that are pressed and released to change and produce different tones.
The trombone has a slide that when moved changes the length of tubing, and therefore the pitch.
All brass instruments have mutes that are placed in the bell to soften the tone or change tone color.

11. BRASS INSTRUMENTS
Trumpet
Trombone
French Horn
Tuba

12. Meet the Percussion Instruments
Made of naturally resonant materials like skin, wood or metal.
Sound is produced when the instrument is struck.
The role of this section is to provide rhythm and character to the orchestra.
These instruments range from simple wooden blocks to tuned instruments.

13. PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
Cymbals
Glockenspiel
Snare Drum
Chimes
Tambourine
Timpani
Triangle
Xylophone

14. Sound Examples For Sound Examples of Each Instrument Go To
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Instrument Webpage
Click Button Above To Enter Site

15. The End