Take a deep breath and puff out your cheeks. Now blow out the air. Does the air make a sound as it rushes out of your mouth? It probably made a noise like rushing wind. You can make a louder sound with your breath if you blow into a tube. (More…)

dodoEntertainment, Music, Musical Instruments23 Nov, 20082 Comments

According to ancient Greek legend, the god Pan had the horns, ears and legs of a goat and the face and body of a man. Pan often fell in love. One day, he was chasing a beautiful nymph called Syrinx. The gods took pity on Syrinx, and turned her into a reed so that she could escape from the god. (More…)

dodoEntertainment, Music, Music Equipments23 Nov, 20082 Comments

A long, deep, vibrating growl is followed by a gruff boom. A throttled scream is quickly replaced by explosive barks. High squeaks seem to mix with strange and muffled voices. And all the time there is the long, deep growl .. . (More…)

dodoMusic, Trumpet23 Nov, 20083 Comments

Do you have a whistle at home? If you have, you know that it is a narrow pipe topped with a special part to blow into, called a mouthpiece. Just below the mouthpiece there is a narrow hole cut out of the pipe. When you blow into the mouthpiece, (More…)

dodoMusic22 Nov, 20083 Comments

Late one evening in 1919, the Dolmetsch family joined a huge crowd of people waiting for a train at Waterloo Station in London. The family was returning home from a concert at which they had performed. Inside one of their bags was an old kind of duct flute called a recorder. (More…)

dodoEntertainment, Home Theater, Multimedia, Music13 Nov, 20082 Comments

Many flutes are held sideways across the player’s mouth. They are called side- blown or transverse flutes. The player blows across the top of a blow hole to play the instrument. Flutes are an ancient kind of instrument which became popular in European concert music about 200 years ago. Early fluteshad open holes along the pipe. You closed these with your fingers to change the pitch, just like a whistle. But early flutes were not easy to play because the fingering was complicated. (More…)

dodoEntertainment13 Nov, 20082 Comments

Early trumpets and horns were made from natural materials in just the same way as early pipes. However, unlike pipes, trumpets and horns have a thin end to blow through and a thicker, cone- shaped end to carry the sound out into the air. It’s often difficult to tell the difference between an early trumpet and an early horn. Trumpets are usually straight and horns are usually curved. (More…)

dodoEntertainment, Music, Sheet Music, Trumpet13 Nov, 20082 Comments

In 1939, a rare silver trumpet with a long, straight tube was blown for the first time in 3,000 years. It was a tense and exciting moment. The effect was shattering. The trumpet broke into several pieces! The trumpet was one of two discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. (More…)

dodoEntertainment, Music, Music Equipments, Musical Instruments, Trumpet13 Nov, 20082 Comments

The modern trumpet belongs to a family of metal instruments that we call brass instruments. The other main members of the family are the tuba, the trombone and the French horn. When these instruments play together in an orchestra, we call them the brass section. (More…)

dodoBrass, Trumpet5 Nov, 20082 Comments

Can you imagine the sound of lots of brass instruments all playing together? Think of a band of musicians turning the corner and marching down your street! They are playing trombones, trumpets and horns, not to mention cornets and tubas, as well as drums and crashing cymbals. You would probably see the trombone players first. They often lead a parade, so that there is plenty of space for their long slides to move in and out.

Special instruments

Brass bands have several of their own special brass instruments, which you wouldn’t normally see in an orchestral brass section. One of these is the cornet. (More…)

dodoBrass, Drums, Trumpet5 Nov, 20082 Comments