Instrument Families

You use your lips to produce sound

by buzzing into a mouth piece. Your mouth starts the vibration

They are usually gold and silver and made of metal

They have 3 or 4 valves (the buttons/keys people push)

or a slide (like the trombone)

You use your air to blow into the instrument

Wood (called a reed) vibrates to help make the sound in the clarinet, oboe,  and bassoon.

They have many keys/buttons that the musician’s use their fingers to press down

They all have strings

Some use a bow to play

Anything you can hit or tap can be a percussion instrument

There a smaller groups in the percussion section: drums, mallet instruments, shakers, scrapers, metals, and woods

You use your hands, sticks, or mallets to play

Everything in our classroom is a part of the percussion family