Section 2: Instruments of the Orchestra & Voice

Music consists of the intentional organization of sounds by and for human beings. In the broadest classification, these sounds are produced by people in three ways: (1) through the human voice, the instrument with which most of us are born, (2) by using musical instruments, or (3) by using electronic and digital equipment to generate purely electronic sounds.   The timbre of a sound coming from a musical instrument is affected by the materials used and the way in which the sound is produced. Based on these two characteristics, we categorize acoustic instruments into five groups: strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and keyboard.  An orchestra is a group of musicians who play together. The main difference between an orchestra and a band is that an orchestra contains stringed instruments as well as brass, woodwind, and percussion.

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify the musical instruments in the symphony orchestra.
• Understand the differences of each instrumental section (Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Keyboard).
• Understand the differences of voice classification and how the basics of the human voice relates to music.
• Explore the development, structure, and timbre of all musical instruments and voices.

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