Types of Musical Instruments

List of Musical Instruments and How They Work

1. Percussion Instruments

Percussion instruments produce sound when an object hits/shakes against another object. The drum is the most common one. It is a hollow object with a stretched material across it.

2. Brass Instruments

Brass instruments are musical instruments made of brass. The lips are firmly pressed against the mouth of the instrument to produce a vibration and a sound. The lips make the air inside the instrument vibrate. The musical instrument magnifies the sound. There are valves that make the air go in longer or shorter directions and thus change the pitch of the sound. There are also slides that can move up and down to alter the tube’s length and also alter the pitch. Making one’s lips looser or tighter against the instrument also alters the pitch. You hear brass instruments like the trumpet in marching bands.

3. Woodwind Instruments

Woodwind instruments are musical instruments carved from wood (generally), have holes in them, a mouth piece, an opening at the end and are all narrow and long. A musician will blow air at the mouthpiece and using his fingers will regulate the flow of air at the holes and produce sound. Examples are bagpipes, flutes, saxophones etc. The thigh bone of a bear was first used by man to create a woodwind instrument.

4. String Instruments

String instruments produce music by vibrating.. The strings’ vibrations are gathered by the bridge (where the strings are, at one end) which transfers it to the sound box to make the sound louder. A longer string will produce a lower note, a heavy string will produce lower notes, tight string will produce a high note and vice versa. A musician makes the string vibrate with one hand while the other hand presses on the string and changes the note. Examples are violin, cello and piano.

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