Western Orchestra

Western orchestra

The instruments of the orchestra are organised into four families: Strings, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion.

Why are they called families? Because the instruments share characteristics such as:

• How they make their sounds
• How they are constructed or put together
• The materials that are used to make them

Even though they are similar in some ways, the instruments in a family can be very different in size, shape and pitch.

Click on each section and choose an instrument to read more about it and listen to its unique sound.