MUS 121 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Keyboard Instrument, String Quartet, Saxophone
28 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Instruments are categorized into families; voices, strings, woodwinds, brasses, percussion, keyboard and electronic. Choir: a vocal ensemble generally in the satb(soprano, alto, tenor and bass) format. Individual voices vary in pitch range, and male and female voices are usually divided into high, middle and low ranges. Stringed instruments can be played by plucking, striking, or bowing the strings. The earliest stringed instruments were plucked or struck, but the sound of a plucked or struck string decays (softens and fades) very quickly. Pitch is adjusted by changing the length of the vibrating string. Silk, plastic and nylon are very smooth and don"t catch the hairs of the bows very well so they tend to be found on plucked or struck stringed instruments. Gut and metal-wound strings tend to be used for bowed instruments. Prior to 1750, the most popular stringed instrument was the lute, psaltery and the harp. Consorts-groups of different types of instruments playing together.
