9781422272923

Wind instruments like clarinets work by blowing air past a reed, causing it to vibrate.

percussion, and strings. Winds (such as clarinets, flutes, saxophones, oboes, recorders, and bassoons) and brass instruments (such as trumpets, trombones, tubas, and horns) create sound waves when the player creates vibrations at the instrument’s mouthpiece either by buzzing their lips together, by blowing air past a reed that vibrates, or by blowing air through an opening in the instrument that creates a whistling effect. Then the air moves through the bodies of the instruments and echoes to create resonance, which makes the original vibrations louder. String instruments (violins, violas, cellos, upright basses, guitars, and harps) create sound when the strings are either plucked or bowed, causing them to vibrate, and the hollow body of the instrument resonates the sound. Some percussion instruments, such as drums, xylophone, glockenspiel, bells, timpani, and cymbals vibrate when they are struck, and here the instrument, itself, vibrates. Other percussion instruments, such as maracas,

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