The Families of the Orchestra
Orchestral instruments group into four families by how they are made to sound: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. Knowing the families is what lets a listener name what they are hearing.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name the four families and give two instruments in each
- Say how each family starts a vibration: a bowed or plucked string, air split or reed, buzzing lips, something struck
- Pick out one family in a recording and say what gave it away
- Explain why a longer or larger instrument in the same family sounds lower
1 · Read
Strings sing when a bow rubs them or a finger plucks them. The cello holds a middle tenor voice, and the bigger bass sounds lower.
Woodwind and brass are hollow tubes of shaking air. A longer tube swings slower and sounds lower, so a tiny piccolo sings high and a long tuba rumbles low.
A flute is open at both ends, while a clarinet is closed at one end. The closed tube plays lower than an open tube of the same length.
Brass starts with buzzing lips, and percussion starts with a strike. Ask what shook first, and you will find the family.
Name the family by what starts the sound: string, air column, lips, or a strike.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.