Meet the Instruments

These digital baseball cards introduce you to individual instruments in the orchestra. Interactive cards allow you to listen to each instrument and printable cards are available to decorate your classroom or family home, or to share online.

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The Strings

Violin

The violin is made of wood and is the smallest of the string family. Like the viola, the violin is held underneath the player’s chin and a bow – often made of horse-hair – is pulled across the strings to make sound. The violinist can also use their fingertips to pluck the strings to make a different noise.

Strings

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Viola

The viola is made of wood and looks similar to the violin but is a little bigger. Like the violin, the viola is held under a player’s chin and a bow is used to make sound. It can play more than one note at a time if the musician uses more than one string.

Strings

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Cello

The cello is made of wood and looks like a big violin. To play the cello, the cellist rests it upright on the floor, between their knees. They can use a bow to play the strings or pluck them with their fingertips.

Strings

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Double Bass

The double bass is made of wood and is the largest and lowest-sounding member of the string family. As it’s so big, musicians often have to stand or sit on a high stool to play it. A double bass is often used outside of the orchestra in jazz, blues, rock and country music.

Strings

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The Woodwinds

Flute

The flute is held horizontally and is played by blowing air across the mouthpiece while both hands use keys to open and close holes in the instrument to play different notes. Originally made from wood, nowadays flutes are made from silver, gold or even platinum.

Woodwinds

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Oboe

The oboe is a double reed instrument, a long wooden tube that flares out at little at the end. To play the oboe, the musician blows through the tiny tip of the reed and uses their fingers to open and close holes with the keys to change notes. The oboe is made out of dark wood and has metal keys.

Woodwinds

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Clarinet

The clarinet has a single reed. To play the clarinet, the musician blows air into the mouthpiece which is connected to the reed. Its metal keys are played with both hands giving the musician the ability to play a wide range of notes. The clarinet is made out of dark wood with metal keys.

Woodwinds

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Bassoon

The bassoon is an unusually long, large double reed instrument and is the lowest sounding instrument in the woodwind family. The bassoonist blows air into the reed which sits at the end of a small metal tube to make sound. The musician use the keys to open and close the holes to find the right notes.

Woodwinds

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The Brass

French Horn

The French horn is made of metal and produces sound when a musician blows air through its mouthpiece. The horn consists of about 12 feet of narrow tubes wound into a circle. The player plays different notes on the horn by pressing valves with the left hand, and by moving the right hand inside of the bell.

Brass

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Trumpet

The trumpet is the highest sounding instrument of the brass family. It has just three valves. Like other brass instruments, it is made of metal. Musicians blow air into the instrument via the mouthpiece to make sound.

Brass

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Trombone

The trombone is made of metal and unlike the rest of the brass family which use valves, the trombone uses a metal slide to change its sounds. It is held horizontally and the trombonist blows and buzzes air (using vibration) into its mouthpiece.

Brass

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Tuba

The tuba is the lowest-sounding instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibration – a buzz – into a mouthpiece. Tubas can be very big and heavy to carry so they are nearly always played sitting down.

Brass

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The Percussion

Timpani

Timpani are large copper drums with drumheads made of calfskin or plastic stretched across the top. Players use drumsticks or mallets to play them. They are one of the loudest instruments of the orchestra.

Percussion

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Snare Drum

Snare drums have a metal frame and plastic or calfskin drumheads that stretch across them. Metal wires, called snares, are stretched tightly across the drum so that it rattles when they player plays it with drumsticks or a brush.

Percussion

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Harp

The harp can be part of the string family or the percussion family. It has 47 strings and the player uses their fingers to pluck the strings whilst using their feet to play the seven pedals on the floor. It’s very elegant, tall and heavy.

Percussion

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Piano

The piano is one of the world’s most popular instruments and used in all musical genres from classical to rock and pop. A normal piano has 88 keys: 52 white keys – each a different note – and 36 black keys, each a half-step between the full notes. The piano has one of the biggest ranges from low to high notes.

Percussion

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