People would refuge themselves to music nowadays. They would pick a guitar or drum sticks and play after a stressful day or even just for leisure. Unknown to these people, musical instruments are classified into five categories. These instruments were scientifically classified by musicologist Curt Sachs and ethnomusicologist Erich von Hornbostel. They based it on the way sound is made by each instrument.
The first classification of musical instruments wherein a stretched string is the sound generator is chordophones. Guitars, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, zithers, lutes, lyres and harps are examples. These produce sound by vibrating strings which are plucked, strummed or bowed. This classification is often called the ‘strings’. Chordophones are the famous and most played instruments by people. Band nowadays, will never be complete without a guitar or even a bass.
If a column of air is the sound generator of the instrument, then it is under aerophones. A sound is produced by blowing air to the column. In some aerophones, the air is enclosed in a tube in compressed lips set, beating reed and the sharp edge of a hole. Flutes and piccolos, which were made of wood before, are examples of aerophones. They are usually called ‘wind instruments’. Some instruments classified as aerophones are trumpets, horns, clarinets, saxophones, oboes, pipe organs and reed pipes or lingual pipes.
Another classification of musical instruments is idiophones. These are instruments whose own material is the sound generator. They are also known as ‘self-sounding instruments’ and ‘percussion’ instruments. Sounds are produced when these instruments vibrate themselves. There are different ways to play these instruments. Bells, cymbals, triangles, marimbas, gongs and lithophones are struck. Rattles, maracas, tambourines need to be shaken. Jaw harps, marimbulas and kalimbas are plucked. Glass harmonicas, glass harps and verrophones are rubbed. And lastly, aeolsklaviers need to be blown.
Instruments with a stretched skin or other membrane for the sound generator are membranophones. They can be rubbed or struck. Membranophones are usually called ‘percussion instruments’ like idiophones. Usually, membranophones are drums. Some examples are timpani, snare drum, bass drum, kazoos and tablas. These instruments are also played by modern bands and are usually the ‘heart’ of the band.
The last classification of musical instrument is electrophones, which was later added by Sachs. These instruments generate their sound by means of electricity. Theremins and synthesizers are examples of these. These also may use an electronic circuit to reinforce means of amplification like electric guitar, electric piano.
With technology and increasing demand in modern music, there will be discoveries in music and from time to time, these classifications of musical instruments will be still studied and revised by other musicologists. As of today, there are still five categories, namely: chordophones, aerophones, idiophones, membranophones and electrophones.
Copyright © 2011 Em Luzande. All rights reserved.
Sources: http://library.thinkquest.org/10400/html/classify.html, hand-outs from my professor in Music Listening
No comments:
Post a Comment