Popular Instruments

These are the most popular instruments people play these days.

Just because you don't see your favourite instrument here doesn't mean it isn't cool. If you have an instrument you want to learn music theory and composition with then let us know and we'll put a program together just for you.

Strings

• Violin: A string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths, played with a bow.
  
  
• Viola: A string instrument similar to the violin but slightly larger and tuned a perfect fifth lower.
  
  
• Cello: A string instrument with four strings tuned in fifths, played with a bow and held between the legs.
  
  
• Double Bass: The largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, played with a bow or plucked.
  
  
• Harp: A string instrument with a triangular frame and strings of different lengths played by plucking with the fingers.
  
  
• Guitar: A string instrument with a flat, wooden body and six strings, played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a pick.
  
  
• Ukulele: A small four-stringed guitar-like instrument originating from Hawaii.
  
  
• Mandolin: A string instrument with a pear-shaped body and four pairs of strings tuned in fifths, played with a pick.
  
  

Woodwinds

• Flute: A woodwind instrument with a cylindrical body and a series of holes covered by keys, played by blowing across a hole in the mouthpiece.
  
  
• Piccolo: A small, high-pitched flute with a range an octave higher than the standard flute.
  
  
• Oboe: A double-reed woodwind instrument with a conical bore, played by holding it vertically and blowing through the double reed.
  
  
• English Horn: A woodwind instrument similar to the oboe but with a lower pitch and a pear-shaped bell.
  
  
• Clarinet: A single-reed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical bore and a flared bell, played by holding it vertically and blowing through the reed.
  
  
• Bass Clarinet: A woodwind instrument similar to the clarinet but with a lower pitch and a larger body.
  
  
• Bassoon: A double-reed woodwind instrument with a conical bore and a folded tube, played by holding it vertically and blowing through the double reed.
  
  
• Contrabassoon: A woodwind instrument similar to the bassoon but with a lower pitch and a larger body.
  
  

Brass

• Trumpet: A brass instrument with a cylindrical bore and a flared bell, played by buzzing the lips into a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece.
  
  
• French Horn: A brass instrument with a conical bore and a flared bell, played by buzzing the lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece and using the right hand to control the pitch inside the bell.
  
  
• Trombone: A brass instrument with a telescopic slide mechanism used to vary the pitch, played by buzzing the lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
  
  
• Bass Trombone: A brass instrument similar to the trombone but with a larger bore and a lower pitch.
  
  
• Tuba: A large, low-pitched brass instrument with a conical bore and a cup-shaped mouthpiece, played by buzzing the lips into the mouthpiece.
  
  

Keyboards

• Piano: A keyboard instrument with a row of black and white keys played by pressing them with the fingers, causing felt-covered hammers to strike strings.
  
  
• Organ: A keyboard instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes or digital sound synthesis.
  
  
• Harpsichord: A keyboard instrument with a stringed mechanism where the strings are plucked by quills or plectrums.
  
  
• Accordion: A portable, box-shaped instrument with a keyboard played by pressing buttons or keys and expanding and compressing a bellows.
  
  
• Synthesizer: An electronic keyboard instrument that generates a wide range of sounds through digital or analog synthesis.
  
  

Percussion

• Timpani: Large, bowl-shaped drums played by striking the drumheads with mallets.
  
  
• Snare Drum: A drum with a cylindrical shell and a set of wire-wrapped strings stretched across the bottom head, played by striking the top head with drumsticks or brushes.
  
  
• Bass Drum: A large, cylindrical drum played by striking the drumhead with a large, padded mallet.
  
  
• Cymbals: Circular metal plates that are struck together to produce a crashing sound or mounted and struck with drumsticks or mallets.
  
  
• Xylophone: A pitched percussion instrument with wooden bars struck with mallets to produce musical notes.
  
  
• Marimba: A pitched percussion instrument similar to a xylophone but with wooden resonators underneath the bars to amplify the sound.
  
  
• Vibraphone: A pitched percussion instrument with aluminum bars, a sustain pedal, and a motorized system to produce a vibrato effect.
  
  
• Glockenspiel: A pitched percussion instrument with steel bars, played with hard mallets to produce a bright, bell-like sound.
  
  

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