Under the guidance of our music teacher Mrs. Corfield-Adams, and band leaders Mr. Wachter and Mr. Walker. Our students have the opportunity to use some/all of the instruments listed below.

All descriptions are curtesy of Wikipedia.org

String instrument - Grand Piano

A piano is a keyboard instrument, widely used in western music for solo performance, chamber music, and accompaniment, and also as a convenient aid to composing and rehearsal.

The piano produces sound by striking metal strings with felt hammers. These vibrations are amplified by transmission to a soundboard by a bridge.

The word piano is a shortened form of the word "pianoforte", which is seldom used except in formal language. It is derived from the original Italian name for the instrument, clavicembalo col piano e forte. Literally harpsichord with soft and loud, this refers to the ability of the piano to produce notes at different volumes depending on how hard its keys are pressed.

Electronic Piano

An electric piano (e-piano) is an electric musical instrument of the 1960s and 1970s, which was built to replace a (heavy) piano on stage. Unlike a synthesizer or an electronic piano, it is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electronic signals by pickups. In other words, an electric piano is to an acoustic piano as an electric guitar is to an acoustic guitar.

Wind Instrument - Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed.

Clarinets actually comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. It is the largest such instrument family, with more than two dozen types. The unmodified word clarinet usually refers to the soprano size.

A person who plays the clarinet is called a clarinetist, sometimes spelled "clarinettist".

Wind Instrument - Saxophone

A saxophone is a musical instrument that is made of brass and often just called a "sax".

It was invented in the 1850s by Adolf Sax and is very popular with modern rock and pop musicians, and often used in jazz music. The big bands of the 1940s and 1950s always used it too.

There are several different kinds of saxophone: the alto, tenor, and baritone are the best known. The player blows into a reed fitted into the mouthpiece of the instrument. The instrument is rarely used in a classical orchestra.

String Instrumet - Violin

The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello. A related bowed string instrument, the double bass technically belongs to the similar but distinct viol family.

A common colloquial name for the violin is the fiddle, and a violin is typically called a fiddle when used to play traditional music. Cross-tunings, or scordatura, are more commonly found in traditional fiddling. Music written for the violin almost always uses the G clef (treble clef).

A person who plays violin is called a violinist or fiddler, and a person who makes or repairs stringed instruments is a luthier.

Wind Instrument - Trombone

A lip-reed aerophone with a predominantly cylindrical bore, the trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. The most frequently encountered trombones are the tenor and bass counterparts of the trumpet. The trombone is usually characterised by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube.

The word trombone derives from Italian tromba (trumpet) - and -one (a suffix meaning large). Thus, quite literally, a trombone is a "large trumpet". The trombone is often referred to by its name in other languages, e.g. Posaune, trombón, Pasuuna, Puzon, Basun. A person who plays the trombone is referred to as a trombonist.

Percussion Instrument - Snare Drum

The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings.

A cluster of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or animal is stretched across the bottom head. When the drum is struck, the snares vibrate against the bottom head. This produces a short, distinctive, snap-like sound. The snares can be disengaged if this effect is not required. Snare drums come in many different sizes as well, that ultimately change the way the drum will sound. Snare drums that are shallow in size will give a higher "crack" sound while the deeper ones will give a heavier and thicker tone. Many drummers opt to have more than one on their drumset for a more dynamic setup.

Wind Instrument - Trumpet

The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register, above the horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba. A musician who plays the trumpet is called a trumpet player or trumpeter.

Wind Instrument - Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge, instead of using a reed. A musician who plays the flute is generally referred to as either a flautist or a flutist.

Flute sounds are typically closed and hollow as a result of relatively weak upper partials. As a result, flute tones are sweet in character and blend well with other instruments. The flute's timbre, pitch and attack are flexible, allowing a very high degree of instantaneous expressive control.