DAVE BAMFORD MUSIC & LEARNING
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      • The Daily Five
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    • Classifying Instruments >
      • Idiophones
      • Membranophones
      • Chordophones
      • Aerophones
    • Frequency Range of Instruments
    • The Sound Wave
    • The Human Ear
    • Hearing Loss and Protection
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Classifying Instruments


One of the key aspects of the Scientific process and Scientific research has been the grouping of objects together based on common characteristics to form huge classification systems. In biology, we can group organisms into different categories based off broad things like their diet and their habitat, and more specific ones such as their genetic makeup and DNA.

When it comes to music, we can also use a variety of ways to describe and group our instruments, ranging from broad to specific. Furthermore, different cultures around the world have different ways of organizing and classifying them.  The most commonly used classification system in western music, divides up our band instruments based off of how they generate a sound. We will later learn that "sound" is actually a series of vibrations that move through the air, and so this system groups instruments by how that sound was created.    

This leads to 4 broad categories that our band instruments can fall into, each with unique characteristics:


  • Idiophones
  • Membranophones
  • Chordophones
  • Aerophones
Email:
dbamfordmusic@gmail.com
david.bamford@sd68.bc.ca