Musical Terms (updated 9/29/11)
Notes from 2/5/13
Timbre - The "color" of musical sound. Or more specifically, what actual sounds you are hearing (guitar, keyboard, female voice, etc.)
Six families: string, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard, electronic
What determines an instrument's family? How it produces sound (not what it's made from or what it looks like).
An instrument may belong to more than one family. For example, a piano (pianoforte) produced sound by pressing a key which put hammers in motion that strike strings. The piano may be classified as a keyboard instrument, but it also can properly be considered a percussion AND a string instrument!
POINT TO REMEMBER: The longer the vibrating element (tube, string, etc.), the lower the pitch. The shorter the vibrating element, the higher the pitch.
Families of instruments: know the six names. You do not need to remember which instrument goes with which family, or how each produces sound. Do know what is the criteria for placing an instrument into a family (how it produces sound). String family - Violin, etc. Bowed strings are the nucleus of an orchestra. A string is set in motion.
Woodwind family - Flute, Clarinet, Oboe. No reed, single reed, double reed. Air is pushed through a cylinder.
Brass family - Trumpet. Uses a mouthpiece. " Plumbing" Air is pushed through a tube which is lengthened or shortened by opening of valves and pipes.
Percussion family - Bass Drum, Xylophone. Indefinite and Definite pitch. Percuss means to strike.
Keyboards - Piano. Sound is produced as the result of pressing a key.
Electronic -Computer, keyboard, electric guitar, magnetic tape, etc. Uses electronics to produce sound.
Ensembles - groups of instruments or voices. Some ensembles are similar in sound for all instruments (string quartet), while other ensembles use a variety of instrumental combinations (flute, violoncello,
piano, and percussion)
MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface. 1. a language that musical instruments use to communicate, 2. the hardware components of this communication (ports, cables, etc.), 3. actual computer files that are created and modified from this protocol. Cell phone ringtones are typically MIDI files ending in .mid.
Voices - Soprano, Contralto (Alto), Tenor, Bass; most common are Mezzo-Soprano and Baritone