Woodwind Musical Instruments

A Brief History of Woodwinds

Woodwinds first appeared in the Neolithic Period (about 9500 BC) as bone whistles. A hollow reed with one end closed was found to produce sound by blowing across the open end.

The most ancient musical instrument is a Syrinx or Pandean Pipes. It consists of a row of different lengths of hollow reeds.

The Greeks and Romans had many woodwind instruments known as auloi and tibiae. The term flute was used for all single and double-reeded instruments and those with whistle mouthpieces. They eventually became the woodwind family because the instruments were originally made of wood. A woodwind is defined as a tube or pipe through which the performer blows. A vibration is produced by the column of air or the reed. The pitch is determined by the length of the tube. Notes are produced by stopping the holes with the fingers or by keys. This essentially changes the length of the tube.

Modern Woodwinds

The principal woodwind instruments of the modern symphony orchestra are the FLUTE, CLARINET, OBOE, and BASSOON. Each of these instruments is the head of a family, or section. The flute family includes the flute and piccolo; the clarinet family includes the clarinet, bass clarinet, and E-flat clarinet; the oboe family includes the oboe and English horn; and the bassoon family includes the bassoon and contrabassoon. The saxophone is also considered a woodwind instrument.

A woodwind instrument is essentially a long tube, or pipe. In order for the instrument to sound, something must make the column of air inside the tube vibrate. The members of the clarinet, oboe, and bassoon families depend on reeds to set the air column vibrating; the player's breath makes the reed itself vibrate. The clarinet uses a single reed, which vibrates against the mouthpiece in which it's set, and the oboe and bassoon both use a double reed, whose split ends vibrate against each other between the player's lips. The members of the flute family are the only woodwind instruments that are not reed instruments. The mouthpiece of a flute is just an oval-shaped hole cut into the side of the instrument near one end. The player blows across (not into) the hole, and the stream of breath strikes the sharp, far edge of the hole, setting up localized air vibrations. These localized vibrations are what set the air column in the instrument vibrating. The same principle applies when blowing across the opening of a bottle to produce a sound.

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