Music EC-12 (Music Classroom Performance) Flashcards
Brass instruments (1 of 2)
As a group of wind tubular instruments made almost entirely of brass, the brass instrument family, or aerophones, is made up of instruments producing sound by the musician’s buzzing of the lips. Each instrument has a mouthpiece at one end, varying lengths of tubes, and an enlarged or flared opening or bell at the other end. Though now obsolete, short types of brass instruments include the cornett, serpent, ophicleide and are designed to play at the lowest octave of the harmonic series. Medium-length instruments play at the second octave of the series and include trumpets, trombones, flugelhorns, and euphoniums. Long instruments play in the third octave of the series and include the French horn and Baroque and Classical style trumpets.
Brass instruments (2 of 2)
The particular bore of the medium-length instruments also determines the kind of sound, as trumpets and trombones are narrow while the flugelhorns and euphoniums are wide. The sound produced by the brass instrument family is forceful, ranging in texture from bright and piercing sounds in the smaller instruments to dark and mellow sounds in the larger instruments. The brass instrument family can produce more notes when fitted with valves or a slide, which will extend the tubes to create additional series of tones and subsequent fundaments on several groups of half steps lower than the previous group. The bugle, used primarily in the military, is not fitted with valves or tubes but is played entirely by the performer’s ability to compress the lips and create forceful sounds at a designated pitch.
Brass instruments
Cornet
A cornet is a brass instrument used for the soprano or higher registers and has a more conical bore similar to the modern trumpet. The sound produced can be slightly more mellow than the traditional trumpet, but that quality is wholly dependent on the musician. Built in C, the cornet is used in European and American military ensembles as well as community and school band performances. The cornet has shanks and crooks to reach most keys down to D, but those were discarded with the shallower mouthpiece that increased the vocal quality and solo virtuosity for the musician. The soprano Eb cornet is a favored solo instrument in smaller ensembles and brass bands.
Brass instruments
Trumpet
The trumpet is a soprano brass instrument with 4 1/2 feet in tube length folded twice over. The mouthpiece extends at one end while the expanded bell extends at the other. At the center is the 3-valve structure with the extra tubing for increases in range. The bore is mostly cylindrical and expands just before the bell. Trumpets are available in different sizes based on the corresponding pitch of the fundamental. While the Bb is the most common trumpet for school and community performances, the trumpet also comes in C, D, Eb, F and piccolo Bb or A with the C trumpet as more favored in professional performances. Piccolo trumpets, or Bach trumpets, are smaller with less tubing and have 4 valves. American trumpets usually have Périnet piston valves for the right hand, and some are equipped with rotary valves.
Brass instruments
Trombone
A narrow, long brass instrument, the trombone has tube ends that overlap and result in the U-shaped section wit a cylindrical slide that starts at the mouthpiece. The other section is more conically shaped and has an expanded bell. Used in European and American orchestras, bands, and jazz ensembles, trombones are mostly tenor instruments in a fundamental Bb. The fully extended slide provides the room to lower the pitch up to 6 half-steps, allowing the trombone to reach all 7 of the harmonic series of pitches. The range is wholly dependent on the musician’s ability. The tenor sound for the trombone is usually bright and penetrating with deep overtones. While the upper registers are mellow and more difficult, lower registers are brighter and helped out with additional valves for a full round tone.
Brass instruments
Euphonium
The euphonium is a valved brass instrument about an octave lower than the trumpet or cornet and has about 9 feet in tube length folded in an upright form. The bell points straight up or partly forward with the large bore of the bugle or flugelhorn. The euphonium and baritone, a similar brass instrument, are extensively used in European and American military as well as community and school performances. With the explosion in the abilities of the performer, the euphonium has become a greater used solo instrument for the full band or as a featured section. Music is written in the bass clef at concert pitch or treble clef that sounds a ninth lower.
Brass instruments
Flugelhorn and bugle
The flugelhorn was originally a hunting horn in eighteenth-century Germany but progressed to a valved horn similar to the bugle. The transition of the flugelhorn to becoming a valved instrument led to the proliferation of other valved brass instruments that are commonly used in brass bands. Soprano flugelhorns have comparable ranges as the cornet and are used in jazz and popular music.
The bugle is a soprano brass instrument with a very large bore. Originally used as a signaling instrument, the bugle was later given valves and keys for amore complete chromatic performance and became the solo instrument for early brass bands. The instrument used in the military is without valves and is pitched from Bb to F similar to the modern trumpet and plays pitches 2 through 6 of the harmonic series.
Brass instruments
Tuba
The largest and lowest brass instrument, the tuba has a widely expanding tube that measures 18 feet and is wrapped in a rectangular shape with the narrow end and mouthpiece pointing back on one end and the expanded bell above the other. The bell flares out and is turned forward. The tuba has 3 or 4 valves for the right hand and is commonly used in European and American military, as well as community and school performances and professional orchestras. The circular tuba, or sousaphone, is used in marching band. Tubas are written in bass clef and are available in 4 sizes: BBb, CC, Eb, and F. The first 2 sizes are common, and smaller tubas are used for baritone or euphonium pitch. Some tubas have additional valves for lower notes and can be made a fifth or an octave below the BBb tuba.
Brass band
The brass and is an ensemble composed of all brass instruments, and can include 24 or 25 musicians. The arrangement of instruments follows 1 Eb cornet; 4 or 5 solo, 2 second, and 1 or 2 third Bb cornets; 1 Bb flugelhorn; 3 Eb tenor horns in solo, first, and second; 2 Bb baritones in first and second; 2 Bb euphoniums; 2 Bb tenor trombones in first and second; 1 Bb bass trombone; 2 Eb basses; and 2 BBb basses. Percussion instruments are occasionally added per music requirements. As a British favorite for recreational and educational programs hosted by commercial enterprises, schools, and religious groups, the brass band has waned in popularity for American music with the increasing preference for mixed ensembles including brass and reed instruments similar to those of John Philip Sousa.
Woodwind instruments
Woodwind instruments cause sound to be created by the musician’s blowing of air either across or through an opening or by blowing against a reed to resonate or vibrate through an enclosed air column. While original woodwind instruments were made from wood, modern woodwind instruments such as the piccolo, flute, and saxophone are made of metal but are not considered brass instruments because of the manner in which the sound is created. Keyboard instruments that create sound by blowing air through an enclosed air column, like organs, are not classified as woodwind instruments. All woodwind instruments have side holes to help configure the sound created by covering the holes or leaving them open. Woodwind instruments include the piccolo, flute, recorder, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, and bassoon.
Woodwind instruments
Piccolo and flute
The piccolo is a small flute pitched higher than the normal flute range. Lacking the middle foot joint, the piccolo may be composed of metal or wood and is sometimes pitched in other keys besides C, such as the popular Db.
The flute is a woodwind instrument made almost entirely of metal and has no reed. Duct flutes have whistle mouthpieces, and embouchure-hole flutes have mouthpieces that require the musician to force air against the edge of the instrument. The modern flute has an embouchure hole and is a cylindrical tube with many side holes and specific mechanisms to cover groups of the side holes to vary the pitch. The flute can be pitched in other keys besides C and can also be created in alto, bass, and contrabass registers with a larger bore.
Woodwind instruments
Recorder
A duct flute with a fipple mouthpiece, the recorder has 2 principal types: Renaissance and Baroque. The Renaissance recorder is made of a single section with 9 holes and a thumb hole in back. The recorder has a conical bore that is usually larger at the top while the exterior is smooth and wider at top and bottom. The Baroque recorder is more ornate and usually consists of 3 sections without a ninth hole. Modern recorders are pitched in C despite the individual tones of each instrument. The sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, great bass, and contrabass recorders have a range of 2 octaves and a whole step which can be increased with more accomplished musicians. The lowest recorders have curved mouth pipes similar to the bassoon, while the highest records are written an octave below where they play.
Woodwind instruments
Clarinet
A single-reed woodwind instrument, the clarinet has a predominantly cylindrical bore and is usually made of grenadilla or African blackwood. The entire clarinet family includes instruments from high Ab, Eb, Bb, A alto in Eb, bass in Bb, contrabass in Eb, and contrabass in Bb. All clarinet instruments have approximately the same range in the treble staff while lower instruments mainly play within the lower octaves. The Bb clarinet is the most common though some orchestras require the A clarinet. The clarinet can sound an octave lower than the audience member would expect. The flute and Bb clarinet measure about the same length but with different lower pitches. The 9 fingers available must handle 19 semitones rather than the 11 of the flute.
Woodwind instruments
Saxophone
With a metal conical bore, the saxophone is a single-reed instrument made in 2 shapes. Smaller saxophones are straight and almost recorder-like in style while the larger ones have a bend toward the front at the bell and toward the back for the neck. The orchestral group has 7 sizes pitched alternately in C and F, while band or military group has 7 sizes pitched alternately in Bb and Eb. All saxophones are written in the treble clef though some instruments have extra keys for extending the range for lower notes. The saxophones used today include the sopranino in Eb, soprano in Bb, alto in Eb, tenor in Bb, baritone in Eb, bass in Bb, contrabass in Eb, and subcontrabass in Bb. The saxophone is used in jazz as well as military, community, school, and professional performances.
Woodwind instruments
Oboe
A double-reed woodwind instrument with a conical bore, the oboe has a flared bell while other members of the oboe family such as the English horn and baritone or bass oboe have a hollow, bulb-shaped bell. Oboes are usually made of grenadilla or African blackwood. Cross keys for the G# and F were added in the early nineteenth century though the development of the oboe progressed at a much slower pace than the flute due to its lack of popularity. Additional keys for the C, B, Bb, and a cross key for the upper C were added later. The 13-key instrument perfected in 1825 is the same Viennese oboe still used today. The term oboe is often used generically to refer to a double-reeded instrument.
Woodwind instruments
Bassoon
A double-reeded woodwind instrument with a conical bore, the bassoon has a folded bore in the center to reduce the exterior size. Several of the holes are drilled at an extreme angle into the bore to make those holes more reachable by musicians. The normal bassoon and contrabassoon are the only surviving types of bassoon in modern orchestration. Bassoons are composed of 4 sections called the wind or tenor, the boot or butt, the long or bass, and the bell. The reed connects to the wing in an S-shaped tube or bocal. Modern bassoons are divided into French and German types based on the fingering and design. German bassoons are most popular in Europe and America and are made of maple while French bassoons are made of rosewood.
Stringed instruments
Stringed instruments have a stretched cord attached to a resonant chamber and held with tension. The cord can be plucked, bowed, or struck to create resonance in the chamber and can be manipulated to produce a specific kind of sound based on the pressure of the fingers against the cord at different locations along the neck of the instrument. The strings can be made of lamb gut, silk, wire, horsehair, nylon, and other synthetic materials. As the creation of strings became more commercial, the range of the stringed instruments and the subsequent performance of the family improved. The clarity of sound and brightness are influenced by the tightness of the twisting of the strings. The number of strings used on the various instruments also allows a greater range of sound and color.
Stringed instruments
Violin
A bowed stringed instrument, the violin is comprised of a hollow resonating wooden box with an attached neck where the 4 strings are tuned in fifths as G, D, A, E. The rounded shoulders of the violin join the neck and, with indented center bouts or concave depressions, provide free clearance for the bow as it is played across the strings. The fingers of the left hand are used on the fretless neck to stop the strings and manipulate the resulting pitch. The bow with its connection surface of horsehair sets the strings to vibrate which is carried through to the belly and resonating body of the instrument. The violin is usually made of spruce or soft wood similar to pine for increased resonance within the body itself, and the chin rest was added around 1820.
Stringed instruments
Viola
The second highest instrument in the stringed family, the viola has its 4 strings tuned to C, G, D, and A at a fifth below the violin strings. The music for the viola is usually written in the alto clef, and the instrument itself is between 3 and 9 inches longer than the violin. The viola can be held the same way as the violin and produces a warmer tone in the low register. The viola part follows below the second violin part and is the second lowest part written in the string quartet composed of 2 violins, a violincello, and the viola. As the important middle part of the string trio, the viola is often viewed as an orchestral instrument with limited solo features.
Stringed instruments
Violincello
With 4 strings tuned to C, G, D, and A at an octave below the viola, the violincello or cello is played between the knees with its weight supported on the endpin that is balanced on the floor. The cello is bowed with the palm downward and is similar in design to the violin disregarding the deeper ribs. The cello is the bass voice in the string trio, string quartet, and string quintet that includes 2 cellos and is written just above the double bass parts in orchestral music. Baroque and Classical pieces were written for cellos specifically, and the instrument has enjoyed a solo repertoire including works by such composes as Mozart, CPE Bach, Schumann, and Brahms.
Stringed instruments
Double bass
As the lowest pitched stringed instrument, the double bass is a hybrid of the viol and violin families and is also referred to as bass viol, contrabass, string bass, and bass. Its 4 strings are tuned to E, A, D, and G an octave lower than the cello while some music calls for a fifth string tuned to C. The orchestral instrument has levers to allow the double bass to reach the C without an additional string. The double bass is tuned in fourths rather than fifths and can use either the French bow where the palm is held downward or the German bow where the palm is held upward. Many double bass solo pieces have been composed since the eighteenth century, though the instrument was popular in chamber music written by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The double bass played pizzicato has been greatly used in jazz performances.
Stringed instruments
Harp
A chordophone where the strings are suspended vertically and perpendicularly to the soundboard, the harp is triangular in shape with the 3 basic elements of resonator, neck, and strings. The 47 strings are attached directly to the neck through movable tuning pegs, and tunings are pentatonic, tetratonic, heptatonic including diatonic, or chromatic. The double-action harp has 7 strings per octave, and each string can be raised 2 semitones using the pedal system. The manual pedal systems tune the strings to the desired register and pitch. The strings are usually plucked with the thumb and first two fingertips but can also be strummed, struck, or slid upon. The resonator itself can be viewed as a percussion instrument and can be struck by the hand or fingers or hooked rattles.
