Virtual Concert: Instrument Families

“Can you think of three different instruments? Write them down or whisper them to a friend.” [Pause for students to respond.] “There are thousands of different kinds of instruments. Instruments make sounds in different ways. Most instruments are put into four groups, or families, based on how they create sounds.”

“If you shake, tap, scrape; it’s percussion! A really common percussion instrument is a drum. We can play body percussion on our laps.” [Demonstrate.] “This first piece of our concert features two percussion instruments: the marimba and the vibraphone.”

“If you pluck or bow, it’s in the string family! When a string or strings on the instrument or plucked or pulled with a bow, they vibrate and create a sound. Can you name some instruments in the string family? This second piece of music features the violin and cello.”

“If you (blow) through wood, it’s a woodwind! Some instruments make sound when the player blows air, or their ‘wind,’ through a wooden mouthpiece to make a sound. Some examples of woodwind instruments include clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. The flute is a woodwind instrument because the whole instrument used to be made out of wood.

“This third piece of music features several woodwind instruments. You will see one instrument, the French Horn, that is not a woodwind instrument.”

“If you (pff) your lips, it’s in the brass family! Brass players also blow wind through their instrument, but they have to do something kind of funny with their lips: they buzz them! Buzzing creates a vibration in the instrument that produces a sound. This next piece of music features a group of trombone players.”

“Thank you for attending today’s virtual concert. We hope you enjoyed listening to and learning about the different instrument families!”

EXTEND learning

Choose one or more of the following activities to extend learning.

1. The following Class Notes performances feature a mix of instrument families. Test students’ comprehension by asking them to name the instrument families in each video below.

   • Katydid performed by Heliopsis (String & Percussion Families)

   • Earth performed by e(L)ement (String & Woodwind Families)

   • Lama Bada Yatathama performed by Lyra Baroque Orchestra (String, Woodwind, & Percussion Families)

   • Ko Yimbe Ko performed by Siama’s Congo Roots (Percussion & String Families)

2. Sing “Instruments Belong in Four Families” to reinforce the definition of each family.Download the score!

3. Check out one or all of our instrument demonstrations to learn a little more about each instrument: Marimba, Vibraphone, Hand Drums, Goat Hoof Shaker, Tabla, Mbira, (Percussion), Bassoon, Oboe, Clarinet, Flute (Woodwinds), Violin, Viola, Cello, Guitar (Strings), Tenor Trombone, Alto Trombone, Tuba, and French Horn (Brass).

4. Reinforce the learning objective by utilizing online resources such as instrument family coloring sheets or an instrument scavenger hunt!

FULL CONCERT PLAYLIST