In the symphony orchestra, the woodwind family consists of nine musical instruments. The musical instruments classified as woodwinds are as follows: the Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Contrabassoon, and Saxophone. The instruments are classified as woodwinds because they were originally made of wood or use wood to produce their particular sound.
The woodwind family of musical instruments is classified by the similar way they produce sound. There are three branches of the woodwind family which are determined by the way they make sound. The first branch is those instruments where vibrations are the result of wind blowing across the top of the instrument. The instruments in the first branch are the Piccolo and Flute.
The Piccolo is a smaller instrument than the Flute. The Piccolo produces a higher pitch than the Flute. It is made of silver or wood. Whereas, the Flute was originally made of wood but now is made of silver or gold. These two instruments are classified as woodwinds because they were originally made of wood. The second branch of woodwind family is instruments that use a single wood reed to produce sound.
The instruments in the second category are the Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, and Saxophone. These implements are single-reed instruments. They are made out of wood with the exception of the Saxophone. They produce sound by the vibration of the single wood reed and the mouthpiece. The Saxophone is made of brass but is considered a woodwind because of the single wood reed. The final branch of the woodwind family is instruments that use double wood reeds to produce sound.
The final branch of the woodwind family of instruments consists of the Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon and Contrabassoon. These instruments have double wood reeds that produce the vibrations that make musical sounds. The Oboe is very similar to the Clarinet. They both are made of wood and have metal keys that produce their sounds. The defining point between the Oboe and the Clarinet is the style of reed. The Oboe is a double-reed instrument where as the Clarinet uses a single-reed. The English Horn is a much larger instrument than the Oboe and produces a much lower pitch sound than the Oboe. The Bassoon and Contrabassoon use double–reeds to produce their sound. The Contrabassoon is a much larger instrument than the Bassoon and it produces a much lower sound than the Bassoon. These nine instruments make up the woodwind family that contribute greatly to the world of music.
