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Music Appreciation > Chapter 10: Western Musical Instruments > Flashcards

Chapter 10: Western Musical Instruments Flashcards

(90 cards)

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1
Q

What are the four families of Western instruments?

A

Strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion

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2
Q

String instruments

A

Bowed and plucked instruments whose sound is produced by the vibration of one or more strings; also chordophone; includes violin, viola, cello, guitar, harp

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3
Q

Woodwinds

A

Instrumental family made of wood or metal whose tone is produced by a column of air vibrating within a pipe that has holes along its length; aka aerophones; includes flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon

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4
Q

Brass instruments

A

Wind instruments with a cup-shaped mouth piece, a tube that flares into a bell, and slides or valves to vary a pitch; most often made of brass or silver; aka aerophones; trumpet, french horn, tuba, trombone

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5
Q

Percussion instruments

A

Instrument made of metal, wood, stretched skin, or other material that is made to sound by striking, shaking, scraping, or plucking; includes idiophones and membranophones; includes xylophone, cymbals, triangle, bass drum, chimes, tambourine

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6
Q

Which instruments do not fit neatly into the Western classification system?

A

Keyboard instruments such as the piano and organ

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7
Q

Principal members of the bowed-string family

A

Violin, viola, violoncello, double bass

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8
Q

Violin

A

Soprano, or highest-ranged, member of the bowed-string family

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9
Q

When did the violin evolve to its present form?

A

From around 1600 to 1750, when instrument makers in Italy flourished

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10
Q

Viola

A

Middle-ranged member of the bowed-string family; second highest member of the violin family; often fills the harmony or doubles another part

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11
Q

Double

A

To perform the same notes with more than one voice or instrument, either at the same pitch level or an octave higher or lower

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12
Q

Violoncello

A

AKA cello, middle-to-low ranged member of the bowed-string family; dark, rich sonority; lower than a viola; often plays the melody

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13
Q

Double bass

A

AKA contrabass or bass viol; largest and lowest-pitched member of the bowed-string family; plays bass part, the foundation of the harmony

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14
Q

Which instruments constitute the core or “heart” of the orchestra?

A

Violin, viola, violoncello, double bass

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15
Q

Legato

A

Smooth playing, connects the notes

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16
Q

Staccato

A

Short, detached notes, marked with a dot above them

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17
Q

Pizzicato

A

Performance direction to pluck a string of a bowed instrument with a finger

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18
Q

Glissando

A

A rapid slide through the pitches of a scale

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19
Q

Tremolo

A

Rapid repetition of a note, can be done vocally or instrumentally

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20
Q

Trill

A

Ornament consisting of the rapid alteration between one note and the next

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21
Q

Double-stop

A

Playing two notes simultaneously on a string instrument

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22
Q

Triple-stop

A

Playing three notes simultaneously on a string instrument

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23
Q

Quadruple-stop

A

Playing four notes simultaneously on a string instrument

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24
Q

Mute

A

Mechanical device used to muffle the sound of an instrument

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25
Harmonics
Individual, pure sounds that are part of any musical tone; in string instruments, crystalline pitches in a very high register, produced by lightly touching a vibrating string at a certain point
26
Harp
Plucked-string instrument, triangular in shape with strings perpendicular to the soundboard
27
Arpeggio
Broken chord in which individual pitches are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously
28
Guitar
Plucked-string instrument originally made of wood with a hollow, resonating body and a fretted fingerboard; types include acoustic and electric
29
What are the two main types of electric guitars? What kind of musicians are they favored by?
Hollow-bodied (electro-acoustic), favored by jazz and popular musicians Solid-bodied, favored more by rock musicians
30
Banjo
Plucked-string instrument with a round body in the form of a single-headed drum and a long, fretted neck; brought to the Americas by African slaves
31
Flute
Soprano-ranged woodwind instrument, usually made of metal and held horizontally; used frequently as a melody instrument
32
Piccolo
Smallest woodwind instrument, similar to the flute but sounding an octave higher; highest-pitched instrument in the orchestra
33
Oboe
Soprano-range, double reed woodwind instrument; traditionally sounds tuning note (A) for other instruments of the orchestra
34
English horn
Double-reed woodwind instrument, larger and lower in range than the oboe; aka alto oboe
35
Bell
The wide or bulbed opening at the end of a wind instrument
36
Clarinet
Single-reed woodwind instrument with a wide range of sizes
37
Bass clarinet
Woodwind instrument with the lowest range of the clarinet family
38
Bassoon
Double-reed woodwind instrument with a low range
39
Contrabassoon
Double-reed woodwind instrument with the lowest range of the woodwind family; supplies foundation for the harmony in the woodwind section of the orchestra
40
Saxophone
Family of single-reed woodwind instruments commonly used in wind and jazz bands
41
Which instrument has become a characteristic of jazz bands? When?
Saxophones, 1920s
42
Embouchure
The placement of the lips, lower facial muscles, and jaws in playing a woodwind instrument
43
Which brass instruments were prevalent in the ancient world? What were their primary uses?
Trumpets and horns | Used primarily for religious ceremonies and military signals
44
Trumpet
Highest pitched brass instrument that changes pitch by means of valves; often associated with ceremonial display
45
French horn
Medium-ranged valved brass instrument that can be played "stopped" with the hand as well as open
46
What is the french horn a descendent of?
Ancient hunting horn
47
Trombone
Tenor-ranged brass instrument that changes pitch by means of a moveable U-shaped slide that alters the length of the vibrating air column
48
Tuba
Bass-ranged brass instrument that changes pitch by means of valves; furnishes the foundation for the harmony
49
Cornet
Valved brass instrument similar to the trumpet but more mellow in sound
50
Where/when was the cornet popular?
Concert bands in the early 20th century
51
Bugle
Brass instrument that evolved from the earlier military, or field, trumpet
52
Fluegelhorn
Valved brass instrument resembling a bugle with a wide bell, used in jazz and commercial music
53
Euphonium
Tenor-ranged brass instrument resembling the tuba
54
Sousaphone
Brass instrument adapted from the tuba with a forward bell that is coiled to rest over the player's shoulder for ease of carrying while marching
55
What functions do percussion instruments serve in an orchestra?
Accentuating the rhythm Generating excitement at climaxes Injecting splashes of color into the orchestral sound
56
What are the two categories of the orchestral family?
Instruments capable of producing definite pitches | Instruments that produce indefinite pitch
57
Percussion instruments that are capable of producing definite pitches
Timpani/kettledrums, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, gong
58
Timpani/kettledrums
Percussion instrument consisting of a hemispheric copper shell across which is stretched a head of plastic or calfskin, held in place by a metal ring and played with soft or hard padded sticks; a pedal mechanism changes the tension of the head and with it the pitch
59
The timpani was brought over to western Europe from where?
The Middle East
60
Which places are instruments of the xylophone family typically used?
Africa, Southeast Asia, throughout the Americas
61
Xylophone
Percussion instrument with tuned blocks of wood suspended on a frame, laid out in the shape of a keyboard and struck with hard mallets
62
Marimba
Percussion instrument, a more mellow version of the xylophone; of African origin
63
Vibraphone
A percussion instrument with metal bars and electrically driven rotating propellers under each bar that produces a vibrato sound, much used in jazz
64
Glockenspiel
Percussion instrument with horizontal, tuned steel bars of various sizes that are struck with mallets and produce a bright metallic sound
65
Celesta
Percussion instrument resembling a miniature, upright piano with tuned metal plates struck by hammers that are operated by a keyboard
66
Chimes
Percussion instrument of definite pitch consisting of a set of tuned metal tubes of various lengths suspended from a frame and struck with a hammer
67
Percussion instruments that do not produce a definite pitch
Snare drum, bass drum, tom-tom, tambourine, castanets, triangle, cymbals, tam-tam
68
Snare drum
Small cylindrical drum with two heads; AKA side drum
69
Bass drum
Percussion instrument played with a large, soft-headed stick; the largest orchestral drum
70
Tom-tom
Cylindrical drum without snares; of Native American and African origins
71
Tambourine
Percussion instrument consisting of a small, round drum with metal plates inserted in its rim, played by striking or shaking
72
Castanets
Percussion instruments consisting of small wooden clappers that are struck together; widely used to accompany Spanish dancing; of Middle Eastern origin
73
Triangle
Percussion instrument consisting of a slender rod of steel bent in the shape of a triangle, struck with a steel beater
74
Cymbals
Percussion instruments consisting of two large brass plates of equal size that are struck sideways against each other; arrived at the West from central Asia during the Middle Ages
75
Gong
Percussion instrument consisting of a broad, circular metal disk suspended with a frame and struck with a heavy mallet; produces a definite pitch
76
Tam-tam
A flat gong of indefinite pitch
77
Piano
A keyboard instrument whose strings are struck by hammers that are controlled by a keyboard mechanism; pedals control dampers in the strings that stop the sound when the finger releases the key
78
Organ
Wind instrument in which air is fed to the pipes through mechanical means; the pipes are controlled by two or more keyboards and a set of pedals; one of the earliest keyboard instruments
79
Harpsichord
Early Baroque keyboard instrument in which the strings are plucked by quills instead of being struck with hammers like the piano
80
True or False: Timpani are percussion instruments with indefinite pitch.
False
81
True or False: The English horn belongs to the brass family.
False
82
Which brass instrument is performed by moving a slide back and forth to change pitches?
Trombone
83
``` Which of the following instruments belong to the unpitched percussion group? Which belong to the pitched percussion group? Snare drum Celesta Vibraphone Tambourine ```
Unpitched: Snare drum and tambourine Pitched: Vibraphone and celesta
84
``` Which of the following are brass instruments? Viola Trumpet Trombone Flute Tuba Saxophone French horn ```
Trombone Tuba Trumpet French horn
85
Which bowed-string instrument can play the highest notes?
Violin
86
``` Which of the following instruments are played with a double reed? Bassoon Saxophone Flute Oboe Clarinet ```
Bassoon and oboe
87
``` Which of the following are woodwind instruments? Saxophone Clarinet Tuba Cello Flute Trumpet Oboe ```
Saxophone Clarinet Oboe Flute
88
All string family instruments are __________. They can be played with a ___.
Chordophones; bow
89
Which string instrument probably originated in the Middle East?
Guitar
90
The "heart" of the orchestra is the _____ section.
String

Music Appreciation (13 decks)

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