Learn more about all the different musical instruments which make an orchestra. And why not have go at conducting?
The orchestra is made up of several different instrument families:
• Strings
• Woodwind
• Brass
• Percussion
Let’s learn a little bit more about all of them…
The Orchestra of Opera North in Wagner's Ring Cycle at Leeds Town Hall © Clive Barda
The string family includes these musical instruments:
• Violin
• Viola
• Cello
• Double Bass
• Harp
They are called string instruments because they use strings to make their sounds. They are mostly made from wood. All of these string instruments, except the harp, can use a bow to make a sound.
Strings of the Orchestra of Opera North in concert © Justin Slee
The player pulls the bow over the strings which causes them to vibrate and create a soundwave which our ears and brain convert into the sounds we hear.
The harp has a lot of strings that are plucked by the player’s fingers. The other instruments can be plucked too, and we call this technique pizzicato.
This video from BBC Radio 3 will show you each instrument in the string family, and what they all sound like put together.
Woodwind instruments make their sound using the air that the player blows into, or across them.
The woodwind family includes:
• Piccolo
• Flute
• Oboe
• Clarinet
• Bassoon and Contrabassoon
Bassoons of the Orchestra of Opera North in the orchestra pit at Leeds Grand Theatre © Tom Arber
These instruments are made from either wood or metal. All of them, apart from the piccolo and flute, have at least one reed – a small piece of wood that vibrates either against the player’s mouth and the instrument (clarinet) or against another reed to produce soundwaves.
The flute and piccolo have a hole which the player blows across.
This video will show you each instrument in the woodwind family, and what they all sound like put together.
The brass are one of the loudest sections in the orchestra! This instrument family consists of:
• French Horn
• Trumpet
• Trombone
• Tuba
Trombones of the Orchestra of Opera North in concert © Justin Slee
These instruments are all made from metal, and the players produce sounds by buzzing their lips together against a mouthpiece. The players can change notes by pressing valves on their instruments, or moving a slide (trombone)
This video will show you each instrument in the brass family, and what they all sound like put together.
Meet Chris and Mark who play percussion in the orchestra of Opera North! They play so many instruments, that it is hard to list them here.
Percussion instruments are things that you can hit with your hand or a beater/stick, hit together, or shake.
Orchestra of Opera North percussionists Chris Bradley and Mark Wagstaff © Justin Slee
They can be very loud and very quiet. Some percussion instruments can play tuned notes, like the xylophone, and some don’t, like the claves.
This video will show you some of the instruments in the percussion family.
Watch the Orchestra of Opera North in a surprise performance of Ravel’s Bolero at Leeds Trinity Centre. Can you hear all the different sections of the orchestra that we just learned about playing together?
Can you name all the different instruments you can see?
There is one more person who’s a very important member of the orchestra: the conductor! It is the conductor’s job to bring the players together, set the tempo of the piece, show clear beats, and control the interpretation and changes in the music.
Watch this video by Classical MPR to learn more about the role of the conductor – it’s more complicated than it may seem! See if you can give it a go and pay particular attention on how to beat in four counts…
You will need a wooden spoon, a pencil or any other kind of stick
With your stick, practice conducting four counts following this movement
Now it’s time for a real challenge! Could you try to follow Opera North conductor Richard Farnes conducting 4 counts for the first 2 minutes of The Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner…
How did you find it? Was it easy? Difficult? Boring? Fun? Important?
Let us know how you get on using #ONLittleSchool on social media!
Draw your favourite musical instrument or, if you’re learning an instrument, you can draw that one!
Why do you like that particular instruments?
You can share your drawings and thoughts with us on social media using #ONlittleSchool
String instruments
Generally wooden instruments that make sound through having their strings vibrated.
Woodwind instruments
Instruments made from wood or metal, that make sound using vibrations from a reed and/or breath.
Brass instruments
Instruments made from metal, that make sound from the vibrations produced by the players lips against a mouthpiece.
Percussion instruments
Instruments that you hit or shake.
Bows
Pieces of wood and horsehair that are drawn across some string instruments to produce a sound.
Pizzicato
A technique used by strings players that means they pluck the string
Reeds: are pieces of wood used in some woodwind instruments. They vibrate either against the instrument and the players lips, or against another reed.
Reeds
Pieces of wood used in some woodwind instruments. They vibrate either against the instrument and the players lips, or against another reed.
Mouthpieces
What brass players buzz their lips against to make their sounds.
Valves
The ‘button’-like things that some brass instruments have to help players change notes.
Tempo
Is the speed at which a passage of music is, or should be played.
