Music Notation and Terminology Part 23

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIOLA. Length, 26 in. Length of bow, 28.]

15. The _viola_ has four strings, also tuned in fifths, thus [Ill.u.s.tration: c g d' a']. The _viola_ looks exactly like the violin at a little distance, and is really only a larger sized violin, having a range a fifth lower. Its tone is not so incisive as that of the violin, being rather heavier--"more gloomy," as it is often described. The _viola_ is not so useful as the violin as a solo instrument because it is not capable of producing so many varieties of color, nevertheless it is invaluable for certain effects. In orchestral music it is of course one of the most valuable instruments for filling in the harmony. The _viola_ players are usually seated behind the second violin players in the orchestra.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIOLONCELLO. Length, 3 ft. 10 in. Length of bow, 28 in.]

16. The _violoncello_ or _cello_ (sometimes called _ba.s.s viol_) has four strings, tuned thus: [Ill.u.s.tration: C G d a]. Its range is about three and one-half octaves (from C to e" or f"), but in solo work this range is sometimes extended much higher. The _cello_ is much more universally used as a solo instrument than the viola and its tone is capable of a much greater degree of variation. In the orchestra it plays the ba.s.s of the string quartet (reinforced by the double-ba.s.s), but is also often used for solo pa.s.sages. _Con sordino_ and _pizzicato_ pa.s.sages occur as often for the _cello_ as for the violin.

17. The _double ba.s.s_ differs from the other members of the string family in that it is tuned in _fourths_ instead of in _fifths_. Its four strings are tuned as follows [Ill.u.s.tration: EE AA D G] the entire range of the instrument being from EE to a. In music written for double-ba.s.s the notes are always printed an octave higher than the tones are to sound: that is, when the ba.s.s-player sees the note [Ill.u.s.tration: c] he plays [Ill.u.s.tration: C] this being done to avoid leger lines. The tone of the _ba.s.s_ is much heavier and the instrument itself is much more clumsy to handle than the other members of the group, hence it is almost never used as a solo instrument but it is invaluable for reinforcing the ba.s.s part in orchestral music. The mute is rarely used on the _double-ba.s.s_, but the _pizzicato_ effect is very common and the ba.s.s pizzicato tone is much fuller and richer than that of any other stringed instrument.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOUBLE-Ba.s.s. Length, 6 ft. 6 in. Length of bow, 23-1/2 in.]

18. The _flute_ has a range of three octaves. [Ill.u.s.tration: c' c""]

It is used in both solo and orchestral playing as well as in bands. The flute was formerly always made of wood, but is at present often made of metal.

19. The _piccolo_ is a flute playing an octave higher than the one described above. The notes are printed as for the flute, but the player understands that the tone is to sound an octave higher. The _piccolo_ is used widely in band music and quite often in orchestral music also, but since the tone is so brilliant and penetrating and is incapable of any great variation, it is not suitable for solo performance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OBOE. (hautboy.) Length, 24-1/2 in. Range b e"'.

CONTRA Ba.s.sOON. (Double ba.s.soon.) Length 6 ft. Range about an octave lower than ba.s.soon, but not all tones in this range are practicable.

ENGLISH HORN. (Cor. Anglais.) Length, 2 ft. 11-1/2 in. Range e a".

PICCOLO. Length, 13 in. (Note that this is approximately half the length of the flute.)

FLUTE. Length, 26-1/2 in.

Ba.s.sOON. (f.a.gotto.) Length, 4 ft. 3-1/2 in. Range BB-flat b-flat'.]

20. The next four instruments to be described (_oboe_, _ba.s.soon_, _English horn_, and _contra ba.s.soon_) are often referred to as the _oboe family_ since the principle of tone production and general manipulation is the same in all four. The tone in these instruments is produced by the vibration of two very thin pieces of cane, which are called together a _double-reed_.

The _oboe_ is especially valuable in the orchestra as a solo instrument, and its thin, nasal tones are suggestive of rustic, pastoral simplicity, both _oboe_ and _English horn_ being often used by orchestral composers in pa.s.sages intended to express the idea of rural out-of-door life. The _English horn_ is also often used in pa.s.sages where the idea of melancholy and suffering is to be conveyed to the audience. In a military band the oboe corresponds to the first violin of the orchestra.

The _ba.s.soon_ and _contra-ba.s.soon_ are used mostly to provide a ba.s.s part for the harmony of the wood-wind group, but they are also sometimes employed (especially the _ba.s.soon_) to depict comic or grotesque effects.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ba.s.s CLARINET. Length, 3 ft. 3 in. Range D to b-flat']

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLARINET. Length 28 in.]

21. The next two types of instruments to be described (_clarinet_ and _saxophone_) are alike in that the tone is produced by the vibration of a _single_ strip of cane (called _single reed_) which is held against the lower lip of the player. The _clarinet_ and _ba.s.s clarinet_ are made of wood and are used in both bands and orchestras, but the _saxophone_ is usually made of metal, and, the tone being more strident and penetrating, the instrument is ordinarily used only in combination with other wind instruments, _i.e._, in bands.

Since the fingering of the _clarinet_ is excessively difficult the performer can play in only certain keys on the same instrument, hence to play in different keys _clarinets_ in several keys must be provided, there being usually three in all. The music is written as though it were to be played in the key of C, but the tones produced are actually in other keys. For this reason the _clarinet_ is called a _transposing instrument_. The range of the _clarinet_ is the greatest possessed by any of the wind instruments, that of the clarinet in C being from [Ill.u.s.tration: e] to [Ill.u.s.tration: g"'].

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAXOPHONES.

SOPRANO. ALTO. Length, 15-3/4 in.

TENOR. Length, 2 ft. 7-1/2 in.

Ba.s.s. Length, 3 ft. 9 in.

Combined range AA to g-flat"']

[Ill.u.s.tration: SARRUSOPHONE.]

The _sarrusophone_ is an instrument with a double-reed. It is made of bra.s.s and exists in several sizes, the only one ever used in the orchestra being the double-ba.s.s _sarrusophone_, which has approximately the same range as the double-ba.s.soon and is sometimes (but rarely) made use of in the orchestra instead of the latter instrument. The tone of the _sarrusophone_ is something like that of the ba.s.soon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRENCH HORN. Length, 22-3/4 in.]

22. The _French horn_ (often called _valve horn_ or simply _horn_) really consists of a long tube (about 16 feet) which is bent into circular form for convenience in handling. Its range is from [Ill.u.s.tration: BB] to [Ill.u.s.tration: f"]. In the orchestra _French horns_ are used in pairs, two of the players taking the higher tones, and two the lower. The tone is intensely mellow but incapable of any extensive variation, but in spite of this lack of variety the tone itself is so wonderfully beautiful that the instrument is one of the most useful in the orchestra both in solo pa.s.sages and to fill in the harmony. The _horn_ (as well as the trumpet and trombone) differs from most of the wood-wind instruments in that its mouthpiece contains no reed, the lips of the player const.i.tuting the vibrating body as they are stretched across the mouthpiece and air is forced against them. The _horn_ is used in bands as well as in orchestras.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TRUMPET. Length, 22-1/2 in.]

23. The range of the _trumpet_ is [Ill.u.s.tration: g b"], the typical tone being brilliant and ringing. It is used in both band and orchestra, playing the highest parts a.s.signed to the bra.s.s choir. The _trumpet_ is often replaced in both band and orchestra by its less refined cousin the _cornet_ because of the ease with which the latter can be played as compared with the trumpet, and the larger number of players that are available in consequence of this ease of execution.

24. The _cornet_ looks something like the trumpet, but is not so slim and graceful in appearance. Its tube is only four and one-half feet long, as compared with a length of about eight feet in the trumpet, and sixteen feet in the French horn.

The range of the _cornet_ in B[flat] is from [Ill.u.s.tration: e] to [Ill.u.s.tration: b-flat"]. The tone is somewhat commonplace as compared with the trumpet, but because of its great agility in the rendition of trills, repeated tones, etc., it is universally used in all sorts of combinations, even (as noted above) taking the place of the trumpet in many small orchestras.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CORNET. Length, 13-3/4 in.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SLIDE TROMBONE. Length, 3 ft. 9 in. Range of tenor trombone (the size ordinarily used) E to b-flat']

25. The pitch sounded by the _trombone_ is altered by lengthening or shortening the tube of which the instrument is constructed, this being possible because the lower part slides into the upper and can be pulled out to increase the total length of the tube through which the air pa.s.ses. There are usually three _trombones_ in the orchestra, each playing a separate part, and the combination of this trio (with the _tuba_ reinforcing the ba.s.s part) is majestic and thrilling, being powerful enough to dominate the entire orchestra in _Fortissimo_ pa.s.sages. But the _trombones_ are useful in soft pa.s.sages also, and their tone when playing pianissimo is rich, serene, and sonorous.

26. The _ba.s.s tuba_ is a member of the saxhorn family[42] and supplies the lowest part of the bra.s.s choir, as the double-ba.s.s does in the string choir. It is used in both orchestra and band, being often supported in the larger bands by a still lower-toned member of the same family--the _contra-ba.s.s tuba_. The range of the _tuba_ is from [Ill.u.s.tration: GG] to [Ill.u.s.tration: g'].

[Footnote 42: The _saxhorn_ was invented about 1840 by Adolphe Sax, a Frenchman. The _saxophone_ is the invention of the same man.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ba.s.s TUBA. Length, 3 ft. 3 in.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ba.s.s DRUM. Diameter about 2-1/2 ft.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CYMBALS. Diameter, 13-1/4 in.]

27. The _kettle-drum_ is the most important member of the percussion family and is always used either in pairs or in threes. The size of these instruments varies somewhat with the make, but when two drums are used the diameter is approximately that given under the ill.u.s.tration.

The range of a pair of _drums_ is _one octave_ [Ill.u.s.tration: F f] and when but two drums are used the larger one takes the tones from F to about C of this range, and the smaller takes those from about B[flat]

to F. The most common usage is to tune one drum to the _tonic_, and the other to _the dominant_ of the key in which the composition is written.

The pitch of the _kettle-drum_ can be varied by increasing or lessening the tension of the head by means of thumb-screws which act on a metal ring.

[Ill.u.s.tration: KETTLE-DRUMS. Diameter of Head, 24-1/2 in. and 27-1/2 in.]

The other important members of the percussion family are shown on this and the following page, their use being so obvious as to require no detailed explanation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAMBOURINE. Diameter, 10 to 12 in.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BELLS. (Fr. carillon; Ger. Glockenspiel.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIDE DRUM. Diameter, about 15-1/2 in.]