Instrumental Knowledge
A small piece of cane wood used in most woodwind instruments that is attached to the instrument and vibrates to create the distinctive sound for each instrument.
What is a reed?
A style of music that is typically in duple meter. This style of music gained significant popularity in military bands for its utility and is still commonly heard today at sporting events and parades.
What is a march?
The speed of the beat.
What is tempo?
A note that typically gets 4 beats in a measure. This note is depicted as an open circle.
What is a whole note?
A musical term meaning to play loudly.
What is Forte?
A piece of tubing on most brass instruments that can be adjusted to lengthen or shorten the instrument to either raise or lower the general pitch slightly.
What is a tuning slide?
A famous American composer known for his marches. this individual was referred to as the king of marches. His notable compositions include the national march "Stars and Stripes Forever". We utilize a marching instrument today that is named after this individual because of his influence in its design.
Who is John Philip Sousa?
A device used to track pulse or beats. This device is commonly used when practicing to ensure a steady pace.
What is a metronome?
What is a half note?
A musical term to play very softly. This dynamic is usually marked with a double letter combination.
What is pianissimo?
A large percussion instrument made of wooden bars that are typically struck with a yarn mallet to create a variety of pitches.
What is a marimba?
A small device that is able to detect sound frequencies and translate them to musical pitches. This device is typically used in practice to help refine accuracy on playing various pitches correctly.
What is a tuner?
A musical term to perform the music at a moderate pace.
What is moderato?
A commonly used rhythm used to depict a single beat of music in 4/4 time.
What is a quarter note?
A musical marking indicating that notes should be blended together. This is typically achieved by not using the tongue to separate each note.
What is a slur?
A large member of the brass family that is commonly used in marching bands. This instrument is often a replacement for the tuba.
What is a sousaphone?
A type of music ensemble that utilizes woodwinds, brass, and percussion. This ensemble is typically smaller than a standard wind band and can often utilizes one person per part.
What is a wind ensemble?
A musical term to perform the music at a quick and cheerful pace.
What is allegro?
Half of a quarter note. This note is generally used to subdivide music in 4/4 time.
What is an 8th note?
A musical term instructing the musician to add an emphasis to that specific note.
What is an accent?
What is a bass clarinet?
A form of musical ensemble that utilizes strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments.
What is an symphonic orchestra?
A musical term to perform the music at a slow speed. This is commonly used as the second movement of a symphony and is the title to the second movement of the famous Symphony no. 9 "New World Symphony" by Antonin Dvorak.
A note that receives 1.5 times its original value. This is represented by adding a small dot just after the note.
What is a dotted note.
A musical term indicating that a note should be played short and light. This is typically represented with a small dot above or below the note.
What is a staccato?