A family member who used to play in a university orchestra has helped me identify musical instruments from photos of the orchestra I saw on screen at the New Year's Day concert broadcast by the BBC from Vienna.
Wind Instrument and The Woodwind
Not all of the wind instruments are wood. If you see a straight pencil shape musical instrument of metal it is either a piccolo or a flute. I saw two instruments which were silver colour and gold effect.
The smallest is the piccolo which is blown sideways. You rarely need a piccolo in an orchestra. So the flautist plays the piccolo. If you need a piccolo at one point in the music, but not the flute, the flautist (flute player) can put aside the flute and pick up the piccolo. Only if you need both a flute and a piccolo at the same time in a piece of music, the two flautists sit side by side and one plays the piccolo.
Next to the piccolo player was the person playing the flute.
Now we come onto the woodwind.
Woodwind
The clarinets are black, made of African blackwood.
The oboe has a little reed which looks like a straw coming out of the instrument into the player's mouth.
The trumpet is large with a bowl shape end.
The trombone has the piece you push forwards and backwards.
The French horn has a circular vertical shape attached or extending from the body.
The cor anglais - Anglais being a French word meaning English
Strings
Most people would recognise the figure of eight violin played with a bow. (The cute half sizes and quarter sizes are mainly for children learning to play.)
Double the size of the violin is the viola.
Next comes the cello, very large, resting on the ground with the person sitting behind it.
Largest of all is the double bass, usually with the person standing behind it, in the Vienna orchestra with their backs to the wall.
The harp is the largest string instrument. The harpist is sitting down. The strings are coloured for quick identification. Now you know and can explain in English to any children or non-musical family members or people who don't speak English, or who speak English as a second language and are keen to learn the technical terms.
Enjoy your concert watching.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Wind Instrument and The Woodwind
Not all of the wind instruments are wood. If you see a straight pencil shape musical instrument of metal it is either a piccolo or a flute. I saw two instruments which were silver colour and gold effect.
The smallest is the piccolo which is blown sideways. You rarely need a piccolo in an orchestra. So the flautist plays the piccolo. If you need a piccolo at one point in the music, but not the flute, the flautist (flute player) can put aside the flute and pick up the piccolo. Only if you need both a flute and a piccolo at the same time in a piece of music, the two flautists sit side by side and one plays the piccolo.
Now we come onto the woodwind.
Woodwind
The clarinets are black, made of African blackwood.
The oboe has a little reed which looks like a straw coming out of the instrument into the player's mouth.
The trumpet is large with a bowl shape end.
The trombone has the piece you push forwards and backwards.
The French horn has a circular vertical shape attached or extending from the body.
The cor anglais - Anglais being a French word meaning English
Strings
Most people would recognise the figure of eight violin played with a bow. (The cute half sizes and quarter sizes are mainly for children learning to play.)
Double the size of the violin is the viola.
Next comes the cello, very large, resting on the ground with the person sitting behind it.
Largest of all is the double bass, usually with the person standing behind it, in the Vienna orchestra with their backs to the wall.
The harp is the largest string instrument. The harpist is sitting down. The strings are coloured for quick identification. Now you know and can explain in English to any children or non-musical family members or people who don't speak English, or who speak English as a second language and are keen to learn the technical terms.
Enjoy your concert watching.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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