About the Different Types of Musical Instruments

The remains of musical instruments have been discovered as far back as 2500 BC in the ancient Sumerian culture. A tablet from Mesopotamia, dated at 2000 BC, is the earliest form of music notation that has been discovered. Scholars and archaeologists don't have an exact timeline for the general development of musical instruments because of the difficulty in obtaining clear evidence and historical information from artifacts of varying ancient cultures.

The earliest instruments were drums and rattles, primitive devices that were created to accompany dancing. As instruments evolved into more complex drums, and then into instruments such as trumpets and flutes, they took on a more important role in religious rituals and were a means of commanding order and attention.

Differences in sound, pitch and tone gradually became clearer and a group of instruments could produce a leading musical line--a melody. As subtleties of tone and substance grew, music began to grow into more of an artistic representation, a means through which people could communicate ideas and thoughts, as well as pay religious homage.

There are five main types of instruments: strings, voice, brass, woodwinds and percussion.

String instruments create their sound through the vibration of strings. Examples include violin, viola, cello, harp, bass, guitar and sitar. The human voice is also considered a musical instrument because it can be altered to produce sounds, tones, different pitches and vibration. Brass instruments produce a sound when the player's lips vibrate as he blows into the tube of the instrument. Examples of brass instruments include French horn, trombone, trumpet and bugle. Woodwinds produce a sound because the player blows into an opening of the instrument, causing air to vibrate within a resonant space. Examples of woodwinds include flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone. Percussion instruments create their sound when hit or struck by something that creates a vibration. Percussive instruments include piano, xylophone, drums, triangle and cymbals.

In 1914, Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs created a system for classifying instruments that is still common today. Their system categorizes four instrumental groups: chordophones, aerophones, idiophones and membranophones.

Chordophones are instruments that make sounds when stretched strings vibrate, like the piano or violin. Aerophones make sounds when air is pushed into a cylinder, like the pipe organ or flute. Idiophones produce sounds because the instrument itself vibrates, such as the xylophone. Examples of membranophones include drums or any other instrument where a stretched membrane vibrates and produces sound.

The development of a wide variety of musical instruments allowed for the production of various types of sounds and tones. The music of these instruments has helped to shape human cultures. As instrument sounds became more intricate, the music produced also began taking on different kinds of forms and meanings, evolving into its important role in society. Music is now used in a representational manner to worship religions, to serve a healing purpose and, most commonly, to express and communicate ideas and emotions.