Musicopedia is our area for everything to do with how music works and overall music theory. Music evolves and so does Musicopedia, so we update our content as often as we can.
You are signed in so you can view this Premium Content Area of the site. If you see any issues please let us know.
Thank you for your support.
Instruments are anything that can be hit, blown, plucked, strummed, vibrated or shaken. If it can make a sound it’s an instrument. Even our voices are instruments of sorts as our vocal cords are vibrating.
There are different instrument families, each defined by how the instruments make sound. Each instrument has a range of notes that they can play.
The string family includes the violin as the highest instrument followed by the viola, the cello and the double bass as the lowest.
The brass family includes the trumpet as the highest instrument followed by the horn, the trombone and then the tuba as the lowest.
The woodwind family includes the flute, or the piccolo, as the highest instruments followed by the clarinet, saxophones and the bassoon as the lowest.
The percussion family include the xylophone as the highest instrument and the timpani, or kettle drum, as the lowest. Most percussion instruments are un-pitched such as the drums and cymbals, whereas some have definite pitch and can play actual notes, such as the celesta or the vibraphone.
Pianos and organs can sit within these families of instruments but these days are put into the keyboard family to avoid confusion.
Certain instruments in the brass and woodwind families as well as the guitar are transposing instruments which means that they need to be written at a different pitch to sound the same as other instruments.