Maracas

• Used in Latin American music
• In its original form, maracas consist of a dried calabash, gourd or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans.
• They are sometimes called shakers because you shake them

Congas

• I think you play the conga with them
• They are five strokes to play them
• You hit them with a stick

Bongos

• They are an afro-cuban instrument
• Bongos are characterised by a striking reddish-brown coat
• These are drums of different sizes

Cymbals

• They are often used in march band
• They are quite loud
• They have different sounds , depends on the model

Tom Tom

• There is a GPS named like that
• It is a drum with no snare
• It is a term for a toy

Tam Tam

• It's an Asian instrument
• You hit it with a mallet
• There is a lot of types of them

Wood Block

• Small piece of a slit drum
• You strike it with a stick
• East Asian musicians use a variety of them

Snare Drum

• Used in musical styles from classic to pop
• Originally called side drum
• Shaped like a cylinder

Bass Drum

• It is the biggest drum in the orchestra
• It is used in march bands
• It has a pedal

Tambourine

• Mentioned in "Dancing Queen" The hit of ABBA
• A Medieval instrument
• Commonly called 'marine' or 'tambo'

Catanets

• Used in Flamenco dances
• They were once banned in Spain ( couldn't play them in public)
• Known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks

Triangle

• It is made from a small, round, steel tube
• It is a Medieval instrument
• It is hit with a metal beater

Celesta

• The word means "heavenly" in French
• It is also spelt celeste
• It is resembling a small, upright piano

Vibraphone

• It uses aluminium bars instead of wood ones
• A dampening pedal is used to let the sound chime and a motor to speed up or down the sound of the vibes
• Some players use two mallets in each hand instead of one

Tubular Bells

• Known also as chimes
• Each bell is just a metal tube
• They originated in the 1800's

Glockenspiel

• From German 'glocken' = "bell", 'spiel' = " play"
• It emitts a bell sound
• It resembles a small xylophone

Timpani

• It is in the classical orchestra since the late 1600's
• Originated in the Middle East
• Once Johann Fischer wrote a symphony, in which the player had to play eight drums at the same time!!! ( Like the impossible song from Guitar Hero!)

The Percussion family - Xylophone

My favourite instrument, just love the sound... Ok, now to the facts...

• From Greek 'xylo' = "wood" , 'phone' = "sound"
• It is from East Asia
• You strike it with a hard mallet

The Percussion family - Introduction

Now, before I start I must warn you it will take me a while as it has got 18 instruments there, with 3 facts on each so just to say, be prepared...

French Horn

• It is used in Jazz
• It was once used in hunting
• It's the only brass instrument that is played left-handed

Tuba

• It is the largest brass instrument
• It is the lowest pitched
• The most common tuba is called BB flat

Trombone

• They are sometimes made of copper
• You use 7 lip positions to play
• You should clean it once a month

The Brass family - Trumpet

• The trumpet keeps the melody
• Pizzy Gillespies has a trumpet that is slanted at the top
• It was invented in 1815

Double Bassoon

• Also called the Contrabassoon
• It's over 16ft long
• Beethoven used it for special effects

Oboe

• There are 4 types of it
• It is known from 2800 B.C
• It is usually made from wood

Bass Clarinet

• It took a while to evolve
• Giles Lot invented it
• It has barely made it as a standard orchestral instrument

Bassoon

• It is the longest and the lowest in the family
• It has 7 feet of tubing
• It was first made in Berlin

Cor Anglais

• It is also known as the english horn
• It has a double reed
• You play it the same as the oboe

Clarinet

• It is the most recent addition to the woodwind family
• Julia Roberts played the clarinet when she was in a school band
• A cane reed needs a diameter of at least 2.5 cm to be in a clarinet

Flute

• Leonardo da Vinci played the flute
• The flute is the ancestor of the piccolo
• They are made of wood, metal or plastic

The Woodwind family - Piccolo

• It's a name from the Italian word small
• It is the highest instrument in the orchestra
• Now only manufactured in C, piccolos were once made in D, as well

Harp

• Red strings are the note C , and the blue strings are F
• It weighs about 125 pounds!!!
• It's one of the world's most ancient and universal instrument

Double Bass

     

• It is often heard in jazz bands
• It can also be called string bass
• It is the largest and the lowest sounding instrument of the family

Cello

      

• The most important part of your body when you play is your ear
• The plural of Cello is Celli
• The actual word 'cello' is short for the word Violoncello

Viola

      

• It was developed in Italy around the 15th century
• It has a melancholy timbre which has been little exploited in solo or orchestral music
• Jimi Hendrix began his musical career playing the viola

The String family - Violin

Let's start with the string family.

•   The violin used to be known as "kit" in Italy
•   Playing the violin burns 170 calories an hour
•   To play it you need a bow with rosin