Title: Instrumentation | music | Britannica
Headings: Instrumentation
Instrumentation
music
Types of instrumentation
String techniques
Wind techniques
Muting

Content: the present size is needed to perform music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic, periods, as well as the varied repertoires that followed. The various sections, with the exception of percussion, divide themselves in somewhat the same manner as a choir. The woodwinds, for example, divide into flutes (sopranos), oboes (altos), clarinets (tenors), and bassoons (basses), although this distinction must be greatly qualified. Instrumental range is larger than vocal range, and the clarinets of an orchestra may play higher than the flutes in a woodwind passage. The standard instrumental groups of Western chamber music include the string quartet (two violins, viola, and violoncello), the woodwind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon), the combinations employed in sonatas (one wind or stringed instrument with piano), and the brass quintet (frequently two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba). In addition to these standard groups there are, however, hundreds of other possible combinations. Other groups that deserve mention are those used in popular music. The dance band, popular in the 1930s and 1940s, consisted of five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, double bass, piano, guitar, and drums. The basic rock ensemble consists of two electric guitars, electric bass, electronic keyboard, drums, and frequently one or more singers. The concert band, which is particularly popular in North America, consists of mixed wind and percussion players totalling from about 40 to well beyond 100 players.