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Instruments have been classified in various ways, some of which overlap. The Chinese divide them according to the material of which they are made—as, for example, stone, wood, silk, and metal. Writers in the Greco-Roman world distinguished three main types of instruments: wind, stringed, and percussion. This classification was retained in the ...
Classification criteria. The criteria for classifying musical instruments vary depending on the point of view, time, and place. The many various approaches examine aspects such as the physical properties of the instrument (shape, construction, material composition, physical state, etc.), the manner in which the instrument is played (plucked ...
Learn about the five types of instrument families (strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, and keyboards) and how they produce sound. Explore different classification systems for musical instruments, such as Hornbostel-Sachs, Reinhard, Schaeffner, and Mann.
- A Sound Classification. Musical instruments can be classified by the Western orchestral system into brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds; but the S-H system allows non-western instruments to be classified as well.
- Idiophones. Idiophones are musical instruments in which a vibrating solid material is used to produce sound. Examples of solid materials used in such instruments are stone, wood, and metal.
- Membranophones. Membranophones are musical instruments that use vibrating stretched membranes or skin to produce sound. Membranophones are classified according to the shape of the instrument.
- Chordophones. Chordophones produce sound by means of a stretched vibrating string. When a string vibrates, the resonator picks up that vibration and amplifies it giving it a more appealing sound.
Mahillon divided instruments into four broad categories according to the nature of the sound-producing material: an air column; string; membrane; and body of the instrument. From this basis, Hornbostel and Sachs expanded Mahillon's system to make it possible to classify any instrument from any culture.
Jul 16, 2023 · Introduction. Throughout history, various methods of musical instrument classification have been used. The most commonly used system in use in the west today divides instruments into string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, however other ones have been devised, and other cultures use varying methods.
