Brass Instruments
Players of this circular brass instrument traditionally insert their right hand into the bell to adjust the pitch and mellow out the tone.
What is a French Horn?
This high-pitched, double-reed instrument is responsible for playing the tuning note (an "A") for the entire orchestra before a concert begins.
What is an Oboe?
This large, deep-toned orchestral string instrument is played while seated, resting on the floor via a metal spike called an endpin.
What is a cello?
Taking its name from the Greek words for "wood" and "sound," this mallet instrument features hard sound bars arranged like a piano keyboard.
What is a xylophone?
Often built directly into the architecture of large churches, this massive instrument creates sound by forcing pressurized air through hundreds or thousands of pipes.
What is a pipe organ?
This brass instrument lacks valves or keys entirely, relying solely on the player's lips to change notes; it is famously used in the military to play "Taps."
What is a Bugle?
George Gershwin's famous piece Rhapsody in Blue opens with an iconic, rising 17-note glissando played on this single-reed woodwind.
What is a clarinet?
Associated heavily with bluegrass and folk, this instrument features a circular, drum-like body with parchment stretched over the frame.
What is a banjo?
This handheld percussion instrument consists of a wooden or plastic frame accompanied by small, pairs of metal jingles called zils.
What is a tambourine?
Essential to the Baroque era, this keyboard instrument cannot change its volume based on how hard you hit the keys because its internal mechanism plucks the strings rather than striking them.
What is a harpsichord?
This specialized type of tuba was designed by a famous American march composer so that it could be easily wrapped around a musician's body and played while marching.
What is a Sousaphone?
Even though it is made entirely of brass, this instrument is classified as a woodwind because its sound is generated by a vibrating wooden reed.
What is a Saxophone?
This member of the orchestral string family is slightly larger than a violin, has a deeper tone, and is the only instrument that primarily reads music in the alto clef.
What is a viola?
Originating in Peru, this highly popular percussion instrument is a wooden box that the player sits on top of while slapping the front face with their hands.
What is a cajón?
This portable keyboard instrument uses hand-operated bellows to push air past internal reeds, earning it the slang nickname "the squeezebox."
What is an accordion?
Often confused with the trumpet, this instrument has a more conical shape and a warmer sound, and was famously favored by jazz legend Louis Armstrong early in his career.
What is an Cornet?
The highest-pitched instrument in the standard orchestra, its name literally means "small" in Italian.
What is the piccolo?
This teardrop-shaped string instrument usually has eight strings tuned in pairs, and is played with a pick using a rapid strumming technique called tremolo.
What is a mandolin?
Similar to a xylophone, this large mallet instrument features bars made of rosewood and long metal resonator tubes beneath them to create a much deeper, warmer echo.
What is a marimba?
Robert Moog revolutionized modern music in the 1960s by creating the first widely commercialized electronic version of this keyboard instrument.
What is a synthesizer?
Looking like an oversized trumpet, this jazz-favorite brass instrument has a much wider bore that gives it a notoriously dark, velvety, and mellow tone.
What is a Fluglehorn?
Despite its deceptive name, this alto member of the oboe family is neither English nor a horn.
What is the English horn (or cor anglais)?
Boasting a pear-shaped body and a distinctively bent neck, this plucked instrument was the most popular domestic string instrument of the Renaissance era.
What is a lute?
These small, clicked wooden shells are held in the palm of the hand and are iconic for providing rhythmic punctuation in traditional Spanish flamenco dancing.
What are castanets?
This metal-keyed instrument is played via a keyboard but is technically percussion, producing a glittering, bell-like sound famously featured in The Nutcracker's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."
What is a celesta?