
The original Piccolo did not have any keys, but it evolved into something similar to that of the flute but created notes an octave higher due to its size, using the same fingering technique. Woodwind Instruments in a Symphony or Philharmonic OrchestraĬreating unique sound would require more instruments and most symphony orchestra or philharmonic would include the following woodwind instruments: 1) Piccolo Two for each type of these instruments are the minimum requirements in today’s orchestra. The basic instruments that can be found in the woodwind section are bassoons, clarinets, flutes, and oboes. His early work would only require a few instruments, but his later work would demand a higher number of instruments. It was quite evident in the evolution of the symphonies of the great masters, such as Mozart’s compositions. It would often depend on the musical composition requirements as each song was arranged differently. Through the decades, there were certain changes in the number of instruments included in an orchestra. More often than not, there were reduced numbers of instruments used during the performance of musical compositions. When World War I officially ended, the orchestral music had adapted to certain changes as well. Basic Woodwind Instruments in an Orchestra Examples of flutes would be the flute and the Piccolo, and the reeds are the bagpipes, bassoons, clarinets, and oboes. A flute instrument produces sound through the air that vibrates inside the tube pipe while a reed instrument creates music by having the air vibrate through a reed, which is a thin wooden piece located near the mouthpiece inside the tube pipe. The flutes and the reeds are the two kinds of woodwind instruments that differ in the way they produce sounds. Playing them would mean blowing air inside the tube pipe while tapping the holes in between by either closing or opening them to create musical sounds or notes.

There are also holes in between them or caps to change tones and keys.

The most common thing about these instruments is that they are some form of tube pipe with holes on both ends of the instrument: the mouthpiece and the closing hole at the other end. Aside from wood, there are plastic and metal. However, today’s instruments are made of a combination of different materials. These instruments are called woodwind due to the raw material from which they were made of, and that is wood. 8,” one of the massive-scale choral classical works, which was also dubbed as “Symphony of a Thousand.” It used many woodwind instruments including bassoons, E-flat clarinets, B-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, cor anglais, contrabassoon, flutes, oboes, and piccolos.


A clear example would be Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. In the early part of the 20th century, additional instruments were being added to the family as the woodwind section continued to expand along with the other families of instruments. 14) Baritone Saxophone The Woodwind Family Instruments
