Knowledge of Musical Instruments - HWC

Knowledge

of

Musical Instruments

Knowledge of musical instruments

There are an awful lot of musical instruments, in all sorts and sizes.

They all produce sound.

What the sound is like (the timbre of an instrument), is dependent on the shape of the

instrument, the material of which it is made and, quite importantly, how the instrument is

made to vibrate.

Sounds are air vibrations, which can be detected by the ear.

The acoustic vibration begins at the sound source (e.g. the string of a guitar) and travels

through air. This vibration is received by the ear drum in the ear and subsequently

interpreted by our brains as sound.

Musical instruments are divided into four categories:

1. Wind instruments

2. Stringed instruments

3. Percussion instruments

4. Electronic instruments

A 5th group could be created, namely keyboard instruments.

These instruments have a common characteristic: the keyboard.

With a keyboard instrument it is often not quite clear how the sound is produced, you hit a

key and you hear a sound. Dependent on the way in which the sound is produced, keyboard

instruments are subdivided into the categories mentioned above.

• With the piano a string is made to vibrate by a hammer with a felt head (stringed instruments).

• With the harpsichord a string is made to vibrate by a plectrum, which plucks the string (stringed instruments).

• With a pipe organ and accordion the air in a tube is made to vibrate (wind instruments).

• With a synthesizer and keyboard the sound is produced electronically (electronic instruments).

Musical instruments are categorized on the basis of the way in which they are made to

vibrate, in other words: the way in which the sound is produced.

Wind instruments

In wind instruments the sound is produced by blowing air in or across the instrument.

There are different kinds of wind instruments:

Flute Recorder French Horn

Oboe Clarinet Saxophone

Trumpet Trombone Tuba

Stringed instruments

In stringed instruments the sound is produced by the vibration of a string.

There are different kinds of stringed instruments:

Violin Cello

Harp Acoustic guitar

Piano Grand piano

Percussion instruments

Percussion instruments produce a sound by striking or rubbing the instrument to make it

vibrate, such as the vibration of a tight membrane or instruments which do not have a

membrane and are made to vibrate themselves.

The most important group of instruments which use a membrane as a sound source are

drums. Drums are played with the hands, fingers or sticks.

Another group of percussion instruments are the so-called idiophones: percussion

instruments which do not have a membrane and are made to vibrate themselves.

There are different kinds of percussion instruments:

Drum kit Bongos

Djembe Xylophone

Cymbals Triangle

Woodblock

Electronic instruments

Electronic instruments are called electrophones.

There are various electronic instruments:

Electric guitar Electric bass guitar

Keyboard

Put the name of the instrument under the right image:

Questions and assignments

Put the following instruments in the correct main category:

Violin, drum kit, French horn, cello, bongos, recorder, guitar, harp, keyboard, piano, trumpet,

saxophone, electric guitar, oboe, flute, djembe, electric bass guitar, double bass, clarinet,

cymbals, triangle, trombone, woodblock, xylophone.

Wind instruments

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Stringed instruments

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1. Which four main categories of instruments can be distinguished?

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2. How is the sound produced by wind instruments?

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3. In which three ways can you play a percussion instrument?

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The teacher lets you hear various fragments of music.

Write down which instrument you hear. You can choose from the following instruments:

Piano, guitar, recorder, drum kit, clarinet, violin, saxophone, harp, trumpet, triangle

Fragment 1: …………………………….

Fragment 2: …………………………….

Fragment 3: …………………………….

Fragment 4: …………………………….

Fragment 5: …………………………….

Fragment 6: …………………………….

Fragment 7: …………………………….

Fragment 8: …………………………….

Fragment 9: …………………………….

Fragment 10: …………………………….

Listening exercise


Write down which instrument you hear.

Fragment 1: …………………………….

Fragment 2: …………………………….

Fragment 3: …………………………….

Fragment 4: …………………………….

Fragment 5: …………………………….

Fragment 6: …………………………….

Fragment 7: …………………………….

Fragment 8: …………………………….

Fragment 9: …………………………….

Fragment 10: …………………………….

Listening exercise


Write down which instrument you hear and to which category the instrument belongs.

Choose from: wind instruments, stringed instruments, percussion instruments and electronic

instruments.

Instrument Category

Fragment 1: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 2: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 3: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 4: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 5: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 6: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 7: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 8: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 9: ……………………………. …………………………….

Fragment 10: ……………………………. …………………………….

Listening exercise

Musical Instruments

All these instruments occur in the puzzle.

They could be both across and down in the puzzle.

When you have found a word you cross it out.

Double bass Triangle Trombone Flute Bongo

Violin Oboe Bass guitar Keyboard Woodblock

Saxophone Trumpet Piano Djembe Tuba

S C S Y U P Q T K S T H K C P

C A Y S I Y R V S M R E O B O

Z M X A A O R A N U I R W F F

H F N O M B B T I G A S U A U

E O M B P E V X L N N S O S R

K I O E L H O W O Y G M K A B

G N J B P I O G I M L L T B O

E O U D C A R N V L E I K U N

T O D R A O B Y E K U K U T G

D E D J E M B E F G V L D I O

A S P F W O O D B L O C K Y F

I R N M T J D S R E U A M E G

J D Q G U S E F G K B T Y I Y

O L D T T R N D A D S T E D D

W X X P Q T T J Q K S S B E V

Puzzle

Knowledge of Musical Instruments - HWC

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