Components of an Orchestra

From talking to many students recently it is evident that there are some holes in the education of the modern-day orchestra. The symphonic orchestra has it’s roots in the Baroque Era, was solidified in the Classical Era, grew even larger in the Romantic Era and essentially has stayed the same ever since. Here are a few facts about each family of instruments belonging to the orchestra.

Strings: This family of instruments is the most used in the orchestra. A typical orchestra will have about 12 - 24 violins (the soprano, or highest pitched of all the strings), 8-12 violas (alto), 6 - 12 cellos (tenor) and 2 - 8 double basses (bass). These instruments are all played by pulling a bow across the strings. The vibration results in brilliant, bright and rich tones.

Woodwinds: This group of instruments is more varied than the strings. At the highest end of the spectrum we have the piccolo, followed by the flute. Both are soprano instruments, but the piccolo is an even higher and smaller version of the flute. They have a pure, almost sine-wave sound. The oboe follows as second highest, with a more nasal and bright character. The clarinet, an alto ranged instrument, has many tone qualities in the three different registers, from the low and mellow tones to the high and shrill tones. The bassoon covers both tenor and bass ranges. It has a rich, mellow and “woody” tone. Both the oboe and bassoon use two reeds (small, thin pieces of wood) to create their tone, while the clarinet only has one.

Brass: The brass family is a little more related to each other in tone quality than the woodwinds, but still not as much as the strings. Each brass instrument derives it’s sound from buzzing your lips into a mouthpiece. Buzzing at a faster or slower rate will result in a higher or lower pitch, respectively. The trumpet is in the soprano range with an array of mellow and bright tones. French horn is somewhat in the middle of the alto and tenor ranges, having the mellowest tone of all the brass instruments. Trombone is in the bass/tenor range, having a mellow sound as well as the capability to sound deep and bright. It is the only brass instrument to change pitch by sliding instead of using a valve. The tuba is the lowest and largest of the brass instruments.

Percussion: All percussion instruments get their sound by being struck by an object. (The piano is technically a percussion instrument!) There are non-pitched and pitched percussion instruments. Some non-pitched instruments are: snare drum, which has a crisp and cracking sound; Bass drum, containing the lowest, and most booming tones of all of the percussion instruments; Triangle, a bright and shrill sound; and an array of cymbals which usually have bright and high sounds as well. Pitched percussion instruments are those such as the xylophone (related to the keyboard) and the timpani; an instrument which bends the drum-head with a foot pedal to get a bombastic sound.

Here is Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. It’s a fantastic introduction featuring all of the instruments discussed in this blog. Enjoy!

Click here to watch Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra