Centennial College - HUM 4002

Tutorial 2: Instruments & Voices

1. Category of Sound Production

Aerophone - produce sounds by vibrating columns of air (e.g. Chinese dizi, recorder)

Chordophone - produce sounds by vibrating strings (e.g. violin, guitar)

Idiophone – produce sounds by vibrating themselves (e.g. cymbals, maracas)

Membranophone - produce sounds by vibrating the membranes (any kind of drums)

Electrophone – produce sounds by electronic means (e.g. theremin, synthesizer, electric guitar)

2. Classification of Western Musical Instruments

(A) Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9lailBPbhU&feature=related

Instrument: _____________________________________

Family: _____________________________________

Category of Sound Production: _____________________________________

Other Instruments in this Family:

__________________________________________________________________________

Instrument: _____________________________________

Family: _____________________________________

Category of Sound Production: _____________________________________

Other Instruments in this Family: Piccolo (no reed),

_____________________________________ (double reed), clarinet (single reed),

_____________________________________ (double reed),

_____________________________________ / cor anglais (double reed), saxophone

(single reed)

_____________________________________: clarinet, saxophone, English horn

(chart for transposing & non-transposing instruments:

http://www.secretcomposer.com/Secret_Composer_Blog_Demo/Concer

t_Pitch_-_Instrument_Transposition_chart.htm)

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(B) Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOVGt__MTKc

Instrument: _____________________________________

Family: _____________________________________

Category of Sound Production: _____________________________________

Other Instruments in this Family: _____________________________________,

_____________________________________ / horn, ____________________________________

Mute - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f9VlqbXH2I

(C) Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtrnr4chfU

Instruments: Marimba, cymbals, snare drum, glockenspiel, timpani

Family: _____________________________________

Category of Sound Production:

snare drum & timpani – _____________________________________;

marimba, glockenspiel & cymbals – ____________________________________

Other Instruments in this Family: Bass drum, gong, castanets, triangle

Timpani: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=nnAjo1qdhKo&feature=related

(D) Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvNx9qYl_cs&feature=related

Instrument: _____________________________________

Family: _____________________________________

Category of Sound Production: _____________________________________

Other Instruments in this Family: organ (_________________________)

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3. Instrumental Combination

Musical

Term / Genre

Number of Instruments &

Examples

Link

Solo Work 1 instrument

Piano sonata, unaccompanied

cello suite

Please refer to Yoyo Ma’s Cello suite in Tutorial 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=QC_nypfbZLQ&feature=fvwrel (Hungarian

Rhapsody) / Audio Example at 2.(D) (P.2)

Sonata 1 or 2 instruments

Cello sonata –

__________________________________;

trumpet sonata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2ALeNYxCk

(trumpet sonata)

Chamber Music: music written for a small group of instruments, intended to be played in a room

Duet 2 instruments

Piano duet / piano four hands

(1 piano); piano duo (2 pianos)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFDDSMlndcc

/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=tq1rZXzjP-I (Sonata for Two Pianos)

Trio 3 instruments

Violin trio – violin, viola, cello;

piano trio –

__________________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=GfiFfqdP5rE&feature=related

Quartet 4 instruments

String quartet –

__________________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BllO5qdBAHY

(string quartet)

Quintet 5 instruments

Woodwind quintet -

__________________________________

__________________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCJhuxNBHA

(wind quintet)

Sextet (6 instruments), Septet (7 instruments), Octet (8 instruments), etc.

Concerto 1 instrument + orchestra http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=4Ud_wGMXRnQ (piano concerto)

Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven’s 9 symphonies,

Mahler’s 10 symphonies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=xV9suzcpQag&feature=relmfu (symphony)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=WuqyfEyNXQo&feature=related (Dvorak

“New World” Symphony)

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Band Music Brass band – brass +

percussion; military band

(woodwind + brass +

percussion); jazz band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ji5GH1PyxE

(brass band)

4. Vocal Music

(A) Art Song / Lied (plural: lieder)

Literally means “song”

Setting of romantic German poems to music

__________________________________ (piano / orchestra)

Schubert: more than 600 lieder

“Erlking” by Schubert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XP5RP6OEJI

(B) Choir

SATB – ____________________________________________________________________

Soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, contralto, countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass

Boys’ choir, girls’ choir etc.

Vienna Boys’ Choir: http://www.wienersaengerknaben.at/jart/prj3/wsk_website/main.jart?

rel=en&content-id=1181926278704&reserve-mode=active

A Cappella (please refer to Lecture 1 notes)

(C) Opera

A drama set to music, acted and sung by solo singers and chorus, and accompanied by an

orchestra

Spoken dialogue

“Magic Flute” by Mozart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhbFk2GbcY&feature=related

“Carmen” by Bizet - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w9yJdkeryI

(D) Oratorio, Cantata

Please refer to Lecture 2 notes

5. Classification of Chinese Musical Instruments

System of instrumental classification in traditional Chinese music 4

Bayin (literally “eight tones”)

Ba: eight in Chinese, yin: sounds / tones (similar to Yinyue)

The system was devised by Zhou court scholars (11th century B.C. – 771 B.C.) in an attempt to

classify the musical instruments of the period

The categorization is based on materials used in construction

8 categories of bayin: metal, stone, earth, skin, silk, wood, gourd, and bamboo

The system disappeared with the decline of imperial china in 1911

Classification & instruments:

No Bayin Pictures & Instruments

1 Metal

(Bian)zhong Bo / Cymbals

2 Stone

Qing

3 Silk

5

Qin

4 Bamboo

Xiao Di

5 Gourd

Sheng

6 Earth

Xun

7 Skin

Drums

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8 Wood

Muyu, wooden block

Classification in modern Chinese music

Different from bayin categorization of materials, this is a classification system categorized by the

way the instruments are played

Introduced at the beginning of the 20th century with the decline of imperial dynasties and the

rising popularity of Western music in China

4 categories: Blown, plucked, bowed, Struck 吹彈拉打; commonly translated as winds, plucked

strings, bowed strings, and percussion

Become the basic structure and division of the Modern Chinese Orchestra until nowadays

Classification & Instruments:

No Classification Instruments

1

______________________________

(Blown)

Di, xiao, sheng

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2

__________________________________

(plucked)

Pipa

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=cq9w79TwyUo

3

__________________________________

(bowed)

Erhu

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JNAIEDx3Vw

4

__________________________________

(struck)

Cymbals (Bo), wooden blocks, drums, gongs

6. Other Instruments

(C) Theremin – “Fantasia for theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano” by Bohuslav Martinu (link:

(D) Toy – “Toy Symphony” (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1miohLVZobE&feature=fvwrel)

(E) Accordion – “Concerto No.1 in Bb Major for Accordion and Orchestra” by Nikolai Chaikin (link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_fTCQ7O6IM)

(F) Electric Guitar – “Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death” (1968)

7. References

Bennett, Roy. General Musicianship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. (HKU Music

Library)

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Bennett, Roy. Instruments of the Orchestra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. (HKU

Music Library)

Lau, Frederick. Music in China: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York, Oxford University

Press, 2008. (HKU Music Library)

8. Next Tutorial

In the next week’s tutorial session, please share your findings on the preliminary research of your concert

report. In a 2-minute presentation, please bring one or two pictures (in USB), give a brief introduction of

the concert that you are going to, and tell what you would expect in the concert.

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