The Orchestra What is an orchestra? - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Orchestra

Slide2

What is an orchestra?

The orchestra is made of four

families of instruments:Strings

BrassWoodwinds

Percussion

Slide3

The

string

section has been a major part of the orchestra for 200

years.

The sound is created by the vibration of strings.

There

are two types of stringed instruments,

bowed

and

plucked

.

Bowed strings are played with a bow, they are the violin, viola, cello and bass. Plucked strings include the harp, guitar, lute, mandolin, banjo, and others.

Slide4

The

strings

were originally made out of cat gut, just as tennis racket strings used to be made.

Slide5

The

larger

the stringed instrument the lower the sound.

That’s the case with the

String bass

.

It is sometimes called the double bass or stand-up bass.

Large

orchestras have 8 to 10

basses.

Slide6

The

cello

is the second largest of the string section. Of

all the strings, the rich, singing sound of the cello make it sound the most like a human voice. Some people believe it is the most expressive instrument in the orchestra.

Slide7

The

violin

plays an extremely important part in the orchestra, but is the smallest of the string family.

It plays the main melody in most orchestral music.

Slide8

The

Viola

is bigger than the violin, though

it looks the same. Its sound is warm, deep and powerful.

It

is more difficult to play, due to violists having to stretch their fingers further between

notes.

Slide9

The

plucked

strings include the harp, guitar, lute, mandolin and banjo. The strings are plucked to make sweet, delicate music that is softer than most other instruments.

Slide10

The

harpsichord

also has strings that are plucked. It looks similar to a piano.The

piano has strings that are actually hit by small mallets instead of plucked, so it is considered a percussion instrument.

Slide11

All

brass

instruments are made of long pieces of coiled tubes of metal.

Their sound comes from the vibration of air and of the vibration of the musician's lips as they make a buzzing noise.

The

sound coming out of a brass

instrument can be changed when the

player changes his lip tension.

Slide12

Members of the

brass

section include:

French hornTuba

Trumpet

Trombone

Slide13

French horns

are

the leaders of the brass section in the orchestra

. They don't have valves. Instead they have keys.

Slide14

Tubas

are the largest brass instruments.

The first tuba was made in Germany by a composer named Richard Wagner.

Slide15

The

trumpet

also belongs to the Brass family

. Long ago trumpets were used

during

battles.

The

soldiers would

listen for

t

heir special trumpet

calls to know what to do on the battlefield. Kings like trumpets to play at their royal celebrations because they sound so important and special.

Slide16

The

trombone

is another member of the brass family

. You play the trombone by sliding tubing back

and forth to make the tube longer

or shorter.

This

changes

the

sound.

Slide17

A

woodwind

is an instrument that you

blow into or over.

The woodwinds include flutes

, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and saxophones.

The sound is created by the vibration of air and the reed that the musician attaches to the mouthpiece.

They

are called

woodwinds because

they used to be made of wood, though saxophones are included because they

use a reed.

Slide18

A

Reed is a thin piece of cane, which is attached to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument to produce

sound by vibrating when the player blows into the instrument. There are two types of reeds: Single and Double

Slide19

The

clarinet

is

the most important woodwind in the orchestra.It has a very wide range.

A single reed is used on this instrument.

It

has 18 holes, six of which are covered by fingers and the remainder by keys.

Slide20

The

highest woodwind

is the flute

. Opening and closing holes in the body of the instrument controls the pitch of the tones. This woodwind does not need a reed. The vibration is created by the air blowing over the mouthpiece.

Slide21

Flutes

were

once made of wood.

Today, they can be made of all types of metal, including silver, gold or platinum, or a combination. They are a descendant from another woodwind which does not need a reed called a

recorder

.

Slide22

The

oboe

is the soprano of the double-reeded

woodwinds. The

sound is produced

by

forcing a column of

air and the double reed

to

vibrate.

Slide23

The

bassoon

is the lowest and largest of the woodwinds. This

sound is also produced by forcing a column of air and a double reed to vibrate.

Slide24

The

saxophone

is considered a woodwind because

even though it is made of brass, it

is played

in a

very similar

way to

the

clarinet and uses a single reed.

It is

the only woodwind that has never been made of wood. It is made of a long, bent tube with holes in it, which are covered by pads called keys. The saxophone has three parts: the body, the neck and the mouthpiece.

Slide25

The

percussion

section of the orchestra has many different instruments in it.

It is usually in the back of the orchestra. It is

made up of instruments that use a

mallet,

or other

device

, to

strike, shake

or rattle to

produce the sound.

Slide26

The

Tympani

is a definite pitched

drum in the percussion family. It can be tuned to many different pitches.

These

drums are

often called

“Kettle”

d

rums.

Slide27

Another is the

snare drum

which comes is different types and sizes.

They have an

upper head

which is

played

by striking and an underneath

head

which

has little strips of gut or metal stretched across it. These strips vibrate to make a rattling sound.

Slide28

Drums are probably the oldest type of percussion instrument. People

in the Middle East used to put drums on either side of their camels. The drummer sat on top and played

them.

Slide29

These percussion instruments are smaller, hand held

instruments.

Even

though they are very different from other percussion instruments and even from each other, you still play them by

hitting, shaking or scraping.

Can you name them?

Slide30

The

xylophone

and glockenspiel are tuned percussion  instruments. They hold their tune better that any of the other percussion instruments.

The marimba is a larger, deeper, more mellow-sounding type of xylophone.

Slide31

Can you name at least two instruments

from each family of the orchestra?Can you recognize the distinct sound of

Each family?