All About the Instruments – String and Woodwind Families – Inside the Orchestra (2024)

FAQs

What are the instruments in the woodwind family in the orchestra? ›

The woodwind family of instruments includes, from the highest sounding instruments to the lowest, the piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon and contrabassoon.

The strings are the largest family of instruments in the orchestra and they come in four sizes: the violin, which is the smallest, viola, cello, and the biggest, the double bass, sometimes called the contrabass.

Orchestra instruments are grouped into four main families: the string family, the woodwind family, the brass family, and the percussion family.

But the easiest classical woodwind would be the flute, because it has no reed. Nevertheless it requires strong lungs and may be hard with small hands. The clarinet and saxophone are also fairly easy, but require caring for and maintaining reeds. The bassoon and oboe are more difficult to learn.

Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed instruments (otherwise called reed pipes).

Violins are the most popular and most needed instrument of the group, usually employing one group to play the melody, and a second group to play the accompaniment.

At over 6 feet long, the double bass is the biggest member of the string family, with the longest strings, which allow it to play very low notes. Basses are so big that you have to stand up or sit on a very tall stool to play them, and it helps if you have long arms and big hands.

String players don't need to breathe to be able to play, like brass and woodwind players do. This is simply because they play using a bow, and thus can play longer melodic lines without taking breaks between phrases. This makes it possible to have continuous string patterns over longer periods of time.

An orchestra is a large group of musicians who come together to play music.

Who leads the orchestra? ›

The person with their back to the audience leading the orchestra is known as the conductor. The conductor may be the most visible part of the orchestra because they are often poised on a raised platform or pedestal.

Each instrument has unique characteristics, such as the different ways they produce a sound, the materials used to create them, and their overall appearance. These characteristics ultimately divide instruments into four families: woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings.

A modern full-scale symphony orchestra consists of approximately one hundred permanent musicians, most often distributed as follows: 16–18 1st violins, 16 2nd violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, 8 double basses, 4 flutes (one with piccolo as a specialty), 4 oboes (one with English horn as a specialty), 4 clarinets (one with ...

An orchestra's wind section can consist of various combinations of such instruments as the piccolo, oboe, flute, clarinet, cor anglais (literally French for 'English horn'), bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon and saxophone.

It is difficult to adjust the pitch of an oboe. Therefore, it would appear that the other instruments in a performance must be made to match, and that is the explanation of why the oboe is the standard for tuning.