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The oldest known scheme of classifying instruments is Chinese and dates from the 4th Century BC . It groups instruments according to what they are made out of. All instruments made out of Stone are in one group, all those made out of Wood in another, those made out of Silk are in a third, and so on. More usually, instruments are classified according to how the sound is produced. The system used in the west today, dividing instruments into wind, strings, and percussion, is of Greek origin. The scheme was later expanded by Martin Agricola , who distinguished plucked string instruments, such as Guitar s, from bowed string instruments, such as Violin s. Classical Musicians today do not always maintain this division (although plucked strings are grouped separately from bowed strings in Sheet Music ), but there is a distinction made between wind instruments with a reed ( Woodwind Instrument s) and wind instruments where the air is set in motion directly by the lips ( Brass Instrument s). There are, however, problems with this system. Some rarely seen and non-western instruments do not fit very neatly into it. The Serpent , for example, an old instrument rarely seen nowadays, ought to be classified as a brass instrument, as a column of air is set in motion by the lips. However, it looks more like a woodwind instrument, and is closer to one in many ways, having finger-holes to control pitch, rather than valves. There are also problems with classifying certain Keyboard Instrument s. For example, the Piano has strings, but they are struck by hammers, so it is not clear whether it should be classified as a string instrument, or a percussion instrument. For this reason, keyboard instruments are often regarded as inhabiting a category of their own, including all instruments played by a keyboard, whether they have struck strings (like the piano), plucked strings (like the Harpsichord ) or no strings at all (like the Celesta ). It might be said that with these extra categories, the classical system of instrument classification focuses less on the fundamental way in which instruments produce sound, and more on the technique required to play them. An ancient system of and Curt Sachs who published an extensive new scheme for classication in ''Zeitschrift für Ethnologie'' in 1914 . Their scheme is widely used today, and is most often known as the Sachs-Hornbostel system (or the Hornbostel-Sachs system). The original Sachs-Hornbostel system classified instruments into four main groups: # Idiophone s, such as the Xylophone , which produce sound by vibrating themselves; # Membranophone s, such as Drum s or Kazoo s, which produce sound by a vibrating membrane; # Chordophone s, such as the piano or Cello , which produce sound by vibrating strings; # Aerophone s, such as the Pipe Organ or Oboe , which produce sound by vibrating columns of air. Later scholars added a fifth category, Electrophone s, such as Theremin s, which produce sound by electronic means. Within each category are many subgroups. The system has been criticised and revised over the years, but remains widely used by Ethnomusicologists and Organologists . Metal idiophones are frequently called Metallophone s. See also Lamellaphone . INSTRUMENTS BY RANGE Western instruments are also often classified by their musical range in comparison with other instruments in the same family. These terms are named after singing voice classifications:
Some instruments fall into more than one category: for example, the cello may be considered either tenor or bass, depending on how its music fits into the ensemble, and the trombone may be alto, tenor, or bass and French horn bassbaritone, tenor or alto, depending on on which range it is played. Many instruments have their range as part of their name: Soprano Saxophone , Alto Saxophone , Tenor Saxophone , Baritone Saxophone , Baritone Horn , Alto Flute , Bass Flute , Alto Recorder , Bass Guitar , etc. OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS Various (groups of) instruments are known after a common, though often not exclusive, type or sphere of use, such as Signal Instrument . |
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