People just can't imagine life without music. It is present everywhere. Music helps us relax. Music helps us to reach our feelings, it can change our mood, it can make us feel good. When we are sad, it can make us happy. It can reduce stress in our daily lives. When we are happy, it can extend and enhance our sense of happiness. But, the same can go for sadness too. It can also cause some memories of the past to emerge, whether pleasant or unpleasant. The music includes singing and playing various instruments.
In this lesson, we are going to find out more about musical instruments, what are they, how are they classified, what benefits do people have by playing a musical instrument, and much more.
Musical instruments are devices that are created or adapted to produce a particular musical sound. They are used since ancient times until today. In ancient times, people needed to produce musical sounds or music, so they tried to make musical instruments. The first instruments were primitive, made from materials of nature, for example, stone, wood, animal bones, etc, and were probably used in performing certain rituals (such as a drum), and not for the entertainment of humans, as it came later. As humanity evolved, so and the instruments evolved. Each culture had a different degree of development and had different cultural characteristics, and thus different needs, hence the variety of the musical instruments. Technology also contributes to the development and advancement of musical instruments, with the improvement of old types and creating new types of instruments. The oldest musical instrument was the flute, which was found in a cave in southern Germany. The earliest flutes were made of bird bones and mammoth ivory and they are more than 37 000 years old. Since then, until today, there are about 1500 various musical instruments in the world.
The list of instruments in the world today is very long. Of course, they are not just listed. They are classified (divided) into certain groups. From the past to the present, there are various classifications of musical instruments, according to some of their common features. The first classification of musical instruments was Chinese and it was made according to the material from which they were made, such as wood, stone, bamboo, etc. Today's classifications of musical instruments are different, and there are known many different ways of classifying them.
One of the classifications, used to divide musical instruments into groups, is based on classifying the musical instruments according to the way they produce sound. By this classification, the musical instruments are divided into:
These instruments have strings and the sound is created by the vibration of the strings. They can create sound if being plucked (for example the harp) or being bowed (for example the violin). This group includes the following instruments:
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| Violin | Double bass | Cello | Harp |
As the name implies, these instruments are made of brass or some other metal. They produce sound when blowing air into them, and by the vibration of that air in the tubes. The most common musical instruments in this group are:
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| Trombone | French Horn | Cornet | Tenor Horn |
At these instruments, the sound is created when the air is blown into them and makes vibrations inside. Some examples of these instruments are:
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| Flute | Bassoon | Clarinet |
These instruments have a keyboard and pressing certain keys of the keyboard creates a certain sound. Such instruments are:
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| Piano | Electric keyboard |
These instruments can create sound by hitting (drum), shaking (maracas), scratching, rubbing, whatever makes them vibrate in aim to produce a sound. Examples of some percussion instruments are:
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| Drums | Bongos | Maracas | Castanets |
Playing a musical instrument has many advantages in people's lives. It can:
The simple answer is no. It is never too early and it is also never too late. But, about five years old is considered an optimal age when people can start learning and playing an instrument.
