Instruments

Grouped by family, in roughly the order they'd be introduced — each family overview links out to its individual instruments, and every instrument links back.

• The String Family

  Violin, viola, cello, and double bass - bowed strings, the backbone of the orchestra.

• ViolinStrings

  The smallest and highest-pitched of the bowed strings - and the orchestra's principal melodic voice.

• ViolaStrings

  The violin's slightly larger, lower-voiced sibling.

• CelloStrings

  A warm, tenor-to-bass voice, played upright and braced against the floor.

• Double BassStrings

  The largest and lowest-pitched of the bowed strings.

• HarpStrings

  A plucked string instrument tuned by foot pedals, not fingering.

• The Woodwind Family

  Flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon - reed and air, four very different voices.

• FluteWoodwinds

  A reedless woodwind, played by splitting a stream of air across an edge.

• OboeWoodwinds

  A double-reed woodwind with a penetrating, nasal tone - and the orchestra's tuning note.

• ClarinetWoodwinds

  A single-reed woodwind with an unusually wide range and smooth, rounded tone.

• BassoonWoodwinds

  A double-reed woodwind pitched an octave and more below the oboe.

• The Brass Family

  Trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba - buzzing lips, metal tubing, and the orchestra's loudest section.

• TrumpetBrass

  The highest, brightest voice in the brass section, historically tied to fanfare and signal.

• French HornBrass

  The brass family's mellowest voice, and its bridge to the woodwinds.

• TromboneBrass

  The only common orchestral instrument that changes pitch with a sliding tube instead of valves.

• TubaBrass

  The largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument, and the newest member of the standard orchestra.

• The Percussion Family

  Timpani, snare, cymbals, and more - everything struck, shaken, or scraped.

• TimpaniPercussion

  Large copper kettledrums that can be tuned to specific pitches.

• PianoKeyboard

  Struck strings and a full harmonic range, in a single instrument played by one person.

• Organ (Pipe Organ)Keyboard

  A keyboard instrument that pushes air through pipes instead of striking strings.

• HarpsichordKeyboard

  The piano's plucked-string ancestor, and the Baroque era's essential keyboard.

• How an Orchestra Is Arranged

  Why every section sits exactly where it does.

• The Role of the Conductor

  One person, no instrument, shaping how an entire orchestra plays together.