A young man was walking through the woods one day and heard a strange noise. He looked and found a woodpecker hammering on a dead branch. When he walked over to the branch, the bird flew away. The man saw that the woodpecker had drilled a row of holes in the branch. The wind made wonderful sounds as it blew through the holes. The young man broke the branch off an saw that it was hollow inside. He found that if he blew into the branch while running his fingers over the holes, he could play a melody.
 
 

Strings Listening Example
    All instruments in the string family have strings. They are played either by running a bow across the strings or by plucking the strings. When string instruments are played, the strings vibrate and the vibrations produce a sound. The smaller the instrument is, the higher the tone. Every string of a stringed instrument is tuned to a different pitch.
 

Violin	Viola
Cello	Bass

Harp

Percussion Listening Example
    Percussion instruments make sounds by being hit with a stick or mallet or by shaking them. Drums are the most common percussion instruments. Western drums don't produce different pitches. Bells, xylophones and glockenspiels have a series of bars that produce a range of pitches.
 

Timpani	Snare Drum
Bass Drum	Cymbals
Xylophone	Bells

 

Woodwind Listening Example
    Woodwinds are played by blowing through or into a hole. This group was given the name woodwind because all woodwinds except the saxophone were made out of wood in the past. Now most woodwinds are made out of metal or other materials. Clarinets, saxophones, oboes and bassoons are reed instruments. When the player blows on the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates and makes a sound. The players control the pitch by putting their fingers on a hole or a key that covers a hole.
 

Clarinet	Oboe
Bassoon	Saxophone
Flute	Piccolo

 

Brass Listening Example
    All brass instruments have a metal mouthpiece. The players control the pitch by pressing harder or relaxing their lips and pressing valves on the instruments. The trumpet and french horn have high pitches while the tuba and trombone have low pitches. Instead of valves, the trombone has a slide. The player controls the pitch by sliding the slide back and forth. The brass group is the largest group of instruments in an orchestra.
 

Trumpet	Trombone
French Horn	Tuba

 

Keyboard Listening Example
    Keyboard instruments have a series of connected keys. The player presses keys to make sounds. The most popular keyboard instrument is the piano. On a piano, when a key is pressed, a small hammer strikes a string to make a sound. When a key is struck on a harpsichord, a mechanism plucks a string to produce a sound. Organs make sounds when air vibrates through an open pipe. Notes on an organ are played with the hands and feet.
 

Piano	Harpsichord
Electric Keyboard	Organ

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