Musical Glossary

Wind Instruments: Instruments that you blow into to make a sound. A wind instrument uses a vibrating column of air inside the tube of the instrument to make a sound. The pitch of a wind insrument is dependent upon the volume of air that is vibrating. A lower pitch is created with a large volume of vibrating air; a higher pitch is created with a smaller volume of vibrating air. A longer instrument tube creates a greater volume of air, so the pitch is lower. Woodwind Instruments: Woodwinds are played in one of three ways; by blowing across an edge (like on a flute), by blowing between a surface and a single reed (like on a clarinet or saxophone) or by blowing between two reeds (like on a bassoon or an oboe).

The Fute: is a long narrow instrument that is most often made out of silver that produces a high pitched sound.

The Clarinet: is a dark plastic or wooden instrument with a beak-like mouthpiece and a flared-out bell. It can produce high pitches and low pitches.

The Saxophone: is made of brass. It has a beak-like mouthpiece much like the clarinet. It produces sounds in the middle of the range.

The Bassoon is made of wood or plastic. It uses a two sided ("double") reed to produce a sound instead of a mouthpiece. It produces sounds from the low to middle range.

Brass Instruments: Most brass instruments have valves or slides that lengthen the tube and create different tones. The instruments are played by vibrating the players lips on the mouthpiece and making a "raspberry" type of sound. By blowing this way, the player causes the vibration of an air column and can change the tone of the instrument. The air volume, as well as the speed of the player's lip vibration, determines the pitch of brass instruments.

The Trumpet: is made of brass or silver. It plays fairly high notes.

The French Horn: is made of brass or silver and is played with the right hand inside the bell to help control its tone. It plays notes in the middle of the range

The Trombone: is made of brass, and has a long slide that gives it the greatest note range of all the brass instruments. It plays fairly low notes.

The Tuba: is the most important instrument in the band. It provides the foundation for everyone's sound. It is also the largest wind instrument and most often made of brass, but can be made of silver. It plays the very lowest sounds. Without this instrument, the band is incomplete.

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Glossary, pg. 2

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