Lesson 14: Intro to Instruments part III: Woodwinds

Reading sheet music is like reading a foreign language. There are rules and patterns that must be followed for the music to sound pleasing to the ear and so the musician can interpret the music correctly in order to perform it.

Before we get to the music, we must first know how to write it correctly, understand the notes, and know how to organize it.

To learn about how to correctly label a note, head to: http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-is-c4.html

To learn about clefs, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2012/12/lesson-2-staffs-clefs-and-lines-oh-my.html

To learn about the major scale and whole and half steps, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-3-major-and-minor-scale.html

To learn about key signatures, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-4-key-signatures.html

To learn about notes and their rhythms in simple meter, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-5-notes-and-rhythm-part-i.html

To learn about simple time signatures, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-6-simple-time-signatures.html

To learn about rests in simple time, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-7-rests.html

To learn about ties and slurs, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-8-ties-and-slurs.html

To learn about dotted notes and rests: head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-9-dotty-good-time.html

To learn about compound time, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/01/lesson-10-notes-and-rhythms-part-ii.html

To learn about the basics of sound, head to:http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/02/lesson-11-science-behind-sound.html

To learn about string instruments, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/02/lesson-12-intro-to-instruments-part-i.html

To learn about keyboard instruments, head to:
http://nomusicbflat.blogspot.com/2013/02/lesson-13-intro-to-instruments-part-ii.html

Now we will learn about Woodwind instruments.

A woordwind instrument has the following qualities:
- currently or once were predominantly made of wood or plastic
-use exhaled breath to vibrate some sort of reed (usually)
-combonations of keys are pressed to produce different pitches

These are common examples of woodwind instruments found in a band or orchestra:

This is a flute*. It was originally made of wood, but is now made out of metal, usually electroplated brass or silver. The flautist, or flute player, holds the flute parallel to the ground and rests the mouthpiece on their lower lip. They blow a focused stream of air into the tone hole and move their fingers to play notes. The flute family are the only woodwinds that dont have some sort of reed.  The flute has a range from C4 to C7.

This is an oboe*. It is usually made of wood or plastic. The oboist holds the oboe vertically in front of them and blows into a double reed. The vibrating of the reeds against each other produces the sound. The range of the oboe is from B♭3 to A6.

This is the clarinet. It too is made out of wood or plastic. The clarinetist also holds the instrument vertically in front of them and blow into a mouthpiece. This has a plastic element (the mouthpiece) and has a single reed held on it by a metal ligature. This configuration is the same for any clarinet or saxophone.

The vibrating of the reed against the mouthpiece creates the sound and the pitch is modified by the pressing of keys which changes the distance that the sound travels out of the instrument. The range of a clarinet is from D3 to A7.

 

These are all the members of the saxophone family: (from left to right) alto sax*, tenor sax baritone sax and soprano sax. Nearly every woodwind instrument (except for oboe) has variations of the instrument that are voiced differently.  The bari sax (baritone sax) plays the bartione part (lower male voice in choral scores) and is the longest saxophone.(measured by distance the air travels through the instrument). It's range is from D♭2 to  A♭4. The tenor sax plays the tenor part (higher male voice) and is shorter than the bari sax. It's range is from A♭2 to E♭5. The alto sax plays either the alto (lower female voice) or soprano (high female voice) part and is the highest-voiced saxophone commonly used in concert bands. It's shorter than a tenor sax and has a range from D♭3 to A♭5. The soprano sax plays the soprano (high female voice) or sometimes the descant part(extremely high female voice, only used for extra effect for a short time) part and is uncommonly used in concert bands. It's range is from A♭3 to E♭6.

Now that you've met the woodwind family, I expect that you wont confuse an oboe for a "weird looking clarinet" like someone did at my last band concert(I'm an oboist).

*These are instruments that I currently play.