3.1.3 Brass and Woodwind Families

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By Ellen Perkins

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Multiple Choice

What is this tool used for string instruments?

• Scroll

• Fingerboard

• Bow

Open Ended

Name as many parts of a string instrument as you can!

• Bassoon

• Brass Family

• Clarinet

• Embouchure

• Flute

• French Horn

• Mouthpiece

• Oboe

Vocabulary

• identify the main instruments in the brass and woodwind families

• compare the timbres of the brass family instruments

• identify how brass and woodwind instruments produce sound and change pitches

• compare the timbres of the woodwind family instruments

Learners can...

3.1.3 Brass and Woodwind Families

• Reed

• Saxophone

• Slide

• Trombone

• Trumpet

• Tuba

• Valves

• Woodwind Family

Brass Family

Instruments that produce sound from vibrating air through a conical (bell-shaped) metal tube

• Players "buzz" their lips on the mouthpiece to create sound

• Can be made of any type of metal

• All are a long hollow piece of metal wrapped around itself

Brass Family Sound

• Brassy

• Blaring

• Bright

• Strong

• Rough

• Piercing

• Flared end of instrument where sound comes out

Bell

• Where player buzzes lips to blow through instrument

• Comes off of the instrument

Mouthpiece

Parts of Brass Instruments

• Pushed down by the player to change notes

• Usually 3 of these that are pushed down in different combinations for different notes

Valves

Parts of Brass Instruments

​Trombones use a SLIDE instead of valves!

Embouchure (Ahm-bow-sure)

Specific shape of lips to play instrument

• This term is used for all wind instruments (including woodwinds)

• If your embouchure is not exactly right, you will NOT sound good! If you can even make sound at all

• When starting an instrument, many teachers have you only practice your embouchure on the mouthpiece for the first few months!! Without even touching the actual instrument!

• Each instrument requires a slightly different embouchure

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• Only brass instrument where performer puts hand inside the bell

• Circular and bell faces away from audience

• Mellow, smooth sound

French Horn

• Smallest, most popular brass instrument

• Popular in jazz, pop, R&B

• Traditionally used for singals on hunting trips and military missions

• Bright, brassy sound

Trumpet

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• Lowest-sounding and largest brass instrument

• Played sitting down UNLESS in marching band

• Gravelly, rumbling sound

• Plays similar things to Double Bass

Tuba

• 3rd largest/lowest brass instrument

• Only one with slide instead of valves!

• Fun fact: evolved from a Renaissance instrument called the sackbut

Trombone

Just for Fun! Brass Mutes!

Mutes: tools used to cover the bell of a brass instrument to change its sound

Multiple Choice

Select the answer that correctly identifies the parts of the trumpet.

• 1.Bell

  2.Mouthpiece

  3.Valves

• 1.Mouthpiece

  2.Valves

  3.Bell

• 1.Valves

  2.Mouthpiece

  3.Bell

Multiple Choice

Which brass instrument uses a slide instead of valves?

• French Horn

• Tuba

• Trombone

Woodwind Family

Instruments that produce sound by air being split over an edge that splits air into streams

• Reed: thin piece of material, usually cane wood

• use a reed to produce sound

Reed Instruments

Flutes

• Split air stream using a mouthpiece

• Can be made of metal or wood

​WOODWIND does NOT mean made of WOOD

• Most have a mouthpiece and bell

• Metal or wood tube that is straight or has a slight curve

• Player pushes down/covers buttons and holes to change notes

Woodwinds

• All have a mouthpiece and bell!

• Long metal tube wrapped several times into oval or circle

• Player pushes down valves or moves slide to change notes

Brass

vs.

Single Reed Instruments

• Metal instrument that uses a single reed

• Slightly larger and moderately pitched

• Common in jazz, R&B, and marching bands

Saxophone

• Wooden instrument that uses a single reed

• Small and high-pitched

• Common in New Orleans jazz, symphony bands, orchestra

Clarinet

• Largest, lowest-sounding woodwind instrument

• Made of wood

• Played with a neck strap because it is quite heavy

Double Reed Instruments

Bassoon

• Slightly smaller than the clarinet

• Has a more egg-shaped bell

• Timbre is more nasal and clear than the clarinet

• Rare outside of symphony band or orchestra

Oboe

​These have NO mouthpiece

No Reed Instrument

• Highest-pitched woodwind instrument

• Made of metal (usually silver or nickel)

• Has a mouthpiece!

• Performer blows air over the mouthpiece hole to create sound

• Similar to blowing over a soda bottle

• Uses buttons and holes to produce sound

• Sounds light and airy (often used to mimic birds)

Flute

Multiple Choice

What is the thin piece of wood most woodwinds use to create sound?

• Reed

• Bow

• Holes

Multiple Choice

What is the only woodwind instrument made of brass?

• Flute

• Bassoon

• Saxophone