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Instruments of an Orchestra

Click on each clue for its answer.

  1. Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy is credited with the invention of this instrument.

    Piano

  2. These are the two basic pedals of most pianos.

    Damper and Soft

  3. It is the largest and lowest pitched of brass instruments.

    Tuba

  4. If you playing an oboe, you blow air into this, usually made of wood.

    Reed

  5. The largest and lowest pitched bowed string instrument used in the modern symphony orchestra.

    Double bass

  6. Instrument very prominent in nearly all musical cultures, but lost its popularity as it was thought of primarily as a woman's instrument after Marie Antoinette popularised it as a lady's pastime.

    Harp

  7. This type of 'high' saxophone is the most popular among classical composers and performers; most classical saxophonists focus primarily on it.

    Alto Saxophone

  8. On a guitar, the raised metal stripes across the fingerboard are called this.

    Frets

  9. As an organist, if you want to hear a particular sound, you pull out a knob called a stop. If you want a big blast of sound, you pull them all of them - and it gave rise to this phrase meaning no holds barred.

    Pulling out all the stops.

  10. Also called a side drum, it is a drum made with strands of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the bottom head.

    Snare drum

  11. The music to these instruments is written in a different key that the rest of the orchestra.

    Transposing instruments

    Eg: Clarinet, Trumpet, Saxophone, French Horn

  12. A classical guitar has these many strings.

    6

  13. They are one of the two instrument types that form the modern drum kit, other than the drum.

    Cymbals

  14. Also known colloquially as kettle drums, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl commonly made of copper.

    Timpani

  15. Instrument consisting of a gearwheel and a stiff board mounted on a handle, which can be freely rotated. The handle is held and the whole mechanism is swung around, the momentum causing the board to click against the gearwheel, making a clicking and rattling noise.

    Ratchet

  16. A piano has these many keys, same as the number of constellations.

    88

  17. The name of this instrument is the abbreviation of an Italian word meaning 'small double bass.'

    Cello

  18. Bowed string players (as well as ballet dancers and baseball pitchers) rub this 'flowery' powder that increases friction on their bow hair so it can grip the strings and make them 'speak.'

    Rosin

  19. The most common type of horn is this. The most common type of horn is this.

    The double horn

  20. The name of this instrument is Italian for a large trumpet.

    Trombone

  21. Hey mister man, the small metal jingles on this instrument are called this 'zils.'

    Tambourine

  22. This instrument was developed in the 1840s by Adolphe ___, a Belgian-born instrument-maker, flautist, and clarinetist working in Paris and was named after him.

    Saxophone ("Sax")

  23. Instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by string, strongly associated with flamenco music.

    Castanet

  24. A violin is usually played using this device consisting of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair strung between the tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends.

    Bow

  25. This 'King of instruments' has the most extense frequency response and widest dynamic range of all musical instruments conceived by man. Along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex man-made creations before the Industrial Revolution.

    The Pipe Organ

  26. A violin usually has these many strings.

    4

  27. In terms of sonic force, this 'elephantine' instrument is the strongest of all orchestral instruments.

    Trumpet

  28. This US president is well-known for playing the saxophone.

    Bill Clinton

  29. The choice keyboard instrument of the Baroque and the early classical periods.

    Harpischord

  30. This instrument is defined as one whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a tubular resonator.

    Brass instrument

  31. These are the two standard types of piano.

    Grand and Upright

  32. Someone who makes or repairs stringed instruments.

    Luthier

  33. Instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Listed under 'X' in children's ABC books!

    Xylophone

  34. The bow of this instrument is the longest bow in an orchestra.

    Viola

  35. It is the largest drum of the orchestra.

    Bass drum

  36. The name of this wind instrument in 'little' for Italian.

    Piccolo

  37. Paul McCartney holds this instrument that is similar to the oboe on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Show of patriotism, perhaps?

    English Horn

  38. From the 16th century onwards, this Italian town is renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, beginning with the violins of the Amati family, and later the Guarneri and the Stradivari whose work is widely considered to be the summit of achievement in string instrument making.

    Cremona