English For Music Students

part of learning how to play a woodwind or brass instrument and
sustaining good musicality.
The word may also refer to the mouthpiece of a wind instrument.

Musical instruments classification

Different classifications have been attempted for musical instruments. One
of the most recognised classifications is that created by Kurt Sachs and E.
M. Hornbostel in 1914, because the system can apply to primitive and
exotic instruments, as well as modern instruments. The system is made up
of five major classes:
 Membranophones: percussion instruments, with a membrane stretched
over a hollow resonator
 Chordophones: strings
 Aerophones: winds
 Idiophones: made of sonorous material that does not require added
tension, like rattles and xylophones
 Electrophones: electrically amplified or vibrated instruments, such as
an electric guitar or organ

Did you know?

 The first recorded use of the flute, clarinet, oboe, and trumpet was in

ancient Egypt.

 What is thought to be the oldest pipe instrument was unearthed in

Mesopotamia, dating from about 2800 BC.

“When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they've

never had, and never will have.”

• Edgar Watson Howe