October 24th 2008
Just like the mouth organ, a squeeze box makes music using free reeds. The largest squeeze boxes are the accordion and the melodeon. Musicians usually carry these instruments on a strap around their shoulder to support the weight. Squeeze boxes have three important parts. They are the reeds, the keys or buttons and the bellows. Continue Reading »
October 24th 2008
This picture shows a beautiful example of one of the largest of all wind instruments. It is an organ. Just imagine how much air is needed to make all these organ pipes sound!
Of course, people don’t blow into organ pipes. Mechanical gadgets such as bellows and electric motors are used. In the very first organs, made in Ancient Greece and Rome over 2,000 years ago, water was used to force air through the pipes. The first organ was called a hydraulic, from the Greek words for `water’ and ‘pipe’. According to writers of the time, the sound was so powerful it could be heard many miles away and the players had to plug their ears! Continue Reading »
October 21st 2008
The American inventor Laurens Hammond invented the electric organ in the 1930s. The electric organ looks just like an ordinary pipe organ, but doesn’t work unless it’s switched on. When the keys are pressed, electric signals are made. The signals go to a pre-amplifier, where they are made stronger, then to an amplifier and then come out of the loudspeaker as musical notes. It sounds just like the real thing! Continue Reading »
October 21st 2008
It is obvious how this instrument got its name! It looks like a snake, but it is not used by snake charmers. The serpent was first made about 400 years ago in France but is seldom played today. If the serpent were straightened out, it would be about 2.5 metres long. Remember the brass instruments whose tubing was so long it had to be folded up? Continue Reading »
October 16th 2008
In the 800s monks invented a way of writing music down. Before that time all music was learned by heart, or it was forgotten as soon as it had been played. Look at this piece of music, which was written in 1420. You can see that it is not that different from modern written music. You might think that the colours and decoration make it more attractive! Continue Reading »
October 16th 2008
Every performer needs a few simple pieces of equipment, if nothing else, to give a successful performance. It is well worth spending a little time beforehand to make sure of a worthwhile result.
First make sure you play your music at the right speed. A machine called a metronome tells you what the speed should be. But how fast is fast? Continue Reading »
October 16th 2008
Going to any kind of musical concert is exciting. But concerts vary according to the type of music that will be played. So when you buy your ticket, how will you know what to expect?
If you are lucky enough to be able to listen to a well-known orchestra playing in a large concert hall, your ticket might be expensive. You might even have to dress up for the occasion! It’s a good idea to listen to a recording of the music beforehand. Then you will know about the music and be able to appreciate it. Continue Reading »
October 12th 2008
Man’s oldest means of musical expression is the human voice. Many people consider it the most beautiful and sensitive of all musical instruments. This instrument is so personal that it is with you wherever you go, lets you make music whenever you want, can be used to make music without taking music lessons, and identifies you even when you can’t be seen.
Just as no two people look exactly alike, no two voices sound exactly the same. Try calling one of your best friends on the telephone and don’t identify yourself. It won’t take long for him to recognize you by the sound of your voice. Although we all use the same kind of instrument to produce vocal sounds, the instrument is a part of our body and is very special. Continue Reading »
October 10th 2008
A similar, but more complicated instrument is the zither. This is a folk instrument from northern Europe that has thirty to forty strings stretched across a flat, hollow sound box. The four top strings are used for playing the melody, while the rest of the strings are plucked and strummed to provide the accompaniment. The right hand plucks and strums, and the left hand stops the melody strings against the frets of a guitarlike fingerboard.
When Johann Strauss composed his famous waltz Tales from the Vienna Woods, he included a charming solo for the zither in the orchestral score. Continue Reading »
October 10th 2008
Folk music is music of the common people. Created by someone who has a story to tell rather than composed by a trained musician, it is simple and easy to understand. Folk songs have easy, singable melodies, use simple harmonies, and (unless the song tells a sad story) have rhythms that are fun for dancing. The instruments of folk music are the instruments people happened to have around at the time. Sometimes inventive people built their own instruments if no others were available. Continue Reading »
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