Five Types of Musical Instruments

There are five different categories of instruments: percussion, woodwind, string, brass, and
keyboard. The categories are based on their sounds, characteristics, and how the sounds are
produced. This method of classification is called the Hornbostel-Sachs or Sachs-Hornbostel
system. It was created by by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs and first published
in 1914, serving as the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments.

1.Percussion Instruments

Percussion not only comprises drums, but also includes a diverse range of instruments.
Other percussion instruments include the bells, cymbals, woodblocks, marimba, kalimba,
tabla, and the xylophone. Percussion sounds are produced by striking the surface of the
instrument, either by hand or with a stick, creating a vibration. Tuning, striking, or hitting
different parts of the instrument with varying force produces different tones. The drumhead
is a membrane, either plastic or dried animal skin, stretched over a frame. In a traditional
drum kit, similar to those found at a rock concert, each drum creates a different range of
notes, and the typical drum kit consists of at least five to seven drums. Over the years,
different countries developed their own drums. These traditional instruments, such as the
djembe from West Africa or the taiko drums from Japan, feature prominently in ceremonial
events.

From the earliest hominids clapping their hands, the sounds of percussion have filled the
ears of humanity. Percussion instruments are strictly defined as instruments that are played
primarily by striking them. As such, this does not only include drums, but cymbals,
tambourines, xylophones, and wood blocks. These instruments are further divided into those
that can create musical notes, and those that do not produce such an identifiable pitch.

Given the ease of finding instruments that could qualify as percussion, it is little surprise
that percussion instruments soon followed the human voice in the development of musical
instruments. This has also led to a great deal of innovation in percussion instruments, as
evidenced by the use of steel drums in Caribbean music.

2.Woodwind Instruments
Woodwind instruments also come in two varieties, flutes and reed instruments. Flutes create
music by causing air to vibrate in a pipe, whereas reed instruments create sound by causing
a reed, a small flexible wooden piece often near the mouthpiece, to vibrate air in a pipe. In
either case, vibrating air is then released from the instruments at certain pitches as
governed by holes on the pipe. The concert flute and piccolo are both examples of flutes,
whereas the reed family includes clarinets, bagpipes, and oboes.

Woodwind instruments are also quite ancient, with the first flutes made from animal bones
dating from 43,000 BC. Likewise, reed instruments are also quite ancient, having first been
used at the end of the Neolithic Period, almost 10,000 years ago.

3.String Instruments

String instruments are those that require the movement of a string to create vibrations
that create sound. This class of instrument ranges from guitars and banjos to violins and
harps, making the group an incredibly versatile body of instruments for musicians to draw
upon. The strings are made to vibrate in a number of different ways, most often by plucking
(like a guitar) or using a bow (like a violin).

The first string instrument, a lyre, dates from the Sumerians almost 5,000 years ago, but it
was the Greeks who really began the scientific study of music using strings. Pythagoras (of
mathematical Pythagorean fame) figured out that the length of the string affects the sound

it makes in a ratio that never changes, and created the Western system of octaves as a
result. An octave is a series of eight notes that serves as an interval between (and
including) two notes, when those two notes either have half or double the vibration or
frequency of each other.
4.Brass Instruments

You can expect the brass instruments to work like the wind instruments saved for some
modifications. The brass instruments feature air columns of which width you can alter using
the slide mechanism or their press valves. For example, if you would look inside the
trumpet, you will find that it has valves. Before the incorporation of valves, trumpeters find it
hard to play other notes.

Hence, they can only play a restricted number of notes. But with the introduction of valves,
the range of notes that they can play expanded. You can open and close its valves. You can
also open or close them to form a variety of combinations to begin producing various
pitches.

Another brass instrument with valves is the French horn. It features a round tube, forming a
compact shape that ends in a conical bore or bell. Other brass instruments you may want to
consider playing are the tuba, trombone, bugle, and conch.

Aside from the valves, you can produce various pitches on brass instruments with the help
of the slides, crooks, keys for changing tubing, and vibratory length. The players can also
alter the pitch by their embouchure, airflow, lip tension to change the harmonic produced.
Scholars sometimes think that brass instruments should be distinguished and defined by
how it produces sound. It should not be limited by whether it is made of brass or not. For this
reason, you will find brass instruments wrought in wood like the cornett, alphorn, the
didgeridoo, and the serpent.

5. Keyboard Instruments

The keyboard instruments are characterized by standard keyboard, though their operations
vary in range and usage. The keyboard, of course, consists of rows of levers that you would
press with your fingers. The popular keyboard instruments include the organ, piano, and
electronic keyboards. Synthesizers and digital pianos also fall under this category. Other
examples include the celestas and carillons.

At present, you will often hear the keyboard when referring to any keyboard-style
synthesizer. Used by an expert, the keyboard can also control the phrasing, dynamics,
articulation, and sound shading.

The modern keyboard sounds like a piano but doesn’t have the weight and size of the piano.
You will find electric and electronic organs at present. The keys of most keyboards feature
plastic keys that come with springs. The springs let the keys return to their original position
after you press on them. You will also find keyboards with weighted keys for simulating the
key resistance of the acoustic piano.