Families of the Standard Orchestra
Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion
What are the four families of the Standard Orchestra?
A double-reed instrument (name one).
What is the oboe, English Horn, Bassoon, or Contra Bassoon?
Instead of using a reed, this instrument(s) makes sound by blowing across an opening like you would blow across a pop bottle (need only one).
What is the flute (or piccolo)?
The very large contrabassoon belongs to this family.
What is the woodwind family?
This family is the most diverse in the orchestra because it is made up of a wide variety of instruments that create completely different sounds.
What is the percussion family?
It looks very much like a violin, but it is a bit larger and plays a bit lower.
What is a viola?
This instrument's tubing is wrapped in a distinct circular fashion.
What is a French Horn?
The English Horn belongs to this family.
What is the woodwind family?
Taking up at least half of the seats on stage, this is the largest instrumental family of the standard orchestra.
What is the string family?
String players rub a tacky substance called rosin onto their bows to help them to do this to the strings.
What is vibrate or make sound?
To change the pitch of its strings, the musician uses foot pedals located at the base of the instrument.
What is the harp?
The snare drum falls into this sub-category of the percussion family.
What is a non-pitched percussion instrument?