The Woodwind Family

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The WoodwindFamily

• Instruments of the Orchestra

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Review of Voice Ranges

• Soprano - high
• Alto second highest
• Tenor third highest
• Bass the lowest

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Common Characteristicsof the woodwind
instruments.

• Sound is made when air passes over or through a
  series of holes.
• Some use a REED that vibrates to produce the
  tone.
• Most woodwind instruments have KEYS which are
  depressed or opened to help change pitch.
• The keys are kept in place by a variety of RODS
  and SPRINGS.
• Fingerings are very similar from one instrument
  to another.

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The Flutes
Sound is made on a flute by blowing over the TONE
HOLE in the HEAD JOINT. The air then passes
through the instrument. The PITCH is changed
by depressing the keys, which we talked about
earlier. There is a whole family of flutes. The
flute is SMALL and therefore has a HIGH pitch.
It is a SOPRANO instrument.
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More of the flutes
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The Clarinets

• The clarinet has many different parts
• The mouthpiece
• The ligature
• The barrel
• The upper and lower joints
• The bell
• AND
• THE REED

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What is a reed?

• A reed is a piece of wood that VIBRATES to
  produce a sound that is amplified in the
  instrument. There are 2 types of reeds

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1the Single Reed

• The single reed is a single piece of wood that is
  shaved down and strapped onto the mouthpiece with
  a ligature.
• Notice as the reeds are passed around that they
  are thinner at the top than they are at the
  bottom.

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The clarinet (cont.)

• The clarinet that we usually see in band at the
  elementary and middle school levels is a soprano
  instrument.
• Listen to this example from Disneys Aladdin.
  How is the sound different than the sound that a
  flute makes?

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The Clarinet (cont.)
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T H E S A X O P H O N E S
Soprano Sax
Alto Sax
Tenor Sax
Bari Sax
These instruments all use a SINGLE reed. You
wont usually find any of these in an orchestra.
The saxophones may be made of brass, but they are
WOODWIND instruments!
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The DoUBLE REEDED INSTRUMENTS of the WW Family
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The second reed the DOUBLE

• The DOUBLE reed is two pieces of wood that have
  been shaved down and tied together.
• There is a small opening at the end for the
  instrumentalist to blow into.
• The reed is NOT held on with a ligature as it is
  with the single reeded instruments.

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The HoboWhoopsI mean the OBOE

• Uses a DOUBLE reed.
• Sounds pinched and nasal.
• Looks similar to a clarinet, but has only 3
  parts.
• Is a SOPRANO instrument.

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The Bassoon

• Uses a double reed.
• Produces a low sound.
• Is held up by sitting on a strap that is
  connected to the instrument.

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REVIEW
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Woodwind Review

• Name the following instruments

What do these instruments have in common?
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Woodwind Review

• What is unique about this group of woodwind
  instruments?

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Woodwind Review
What is the difference between these two
instruments?
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Woodwind Review

• What is the difference between THESE two
  instruments?

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And finally, use your brain and your knowledge of
the instruments weve already talked about to
complete the following analogies.

• _________ is to violin as bari sax is to string
  bass.
• _________ is to flute as soprano sax is to alto
  sax.
• Oboe is to __________ as violin is to string bass.

These are called ANALOGIES. Can you think of any
more?
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THE END