--- title: Instrument families: strings, wind, brass, percussion, keys — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Instrument families: strings, wind, brass, percussion, keys», a lesson of the arts course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Instruments are sorted into families by HOW they make their sound, not by what they are made of: strings shake st --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Arts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/) / Instrument families: strings, wind, br… # Instrument families: strings, wind, brass, percussion, keys Lesson 9 of the arts course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/0/) — Instruments are sorted into families by HOW they make their sound, not by what they are made of: strings shake strings, woodwinds use breath across an edge or on a reed, brass players buzz their lips, and percussion is hit, shaken or scraped. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/1/) — That is why the shiny metal saxophone is a woodwind (it uses a reed, a thin vibrating strip of cane) and the metal flute is a woodwind too (you blow across an edge), while the trumpet is brass because your lips must buzz. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/2/) — Picture a family photo of strings: violin, viola, cello and double bass, from small to huge; in every family the bigger ones play lower notes, like a tiny dog yapping and a big dog woofing. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/3/) — Some instruments do not fit one box: a piano has strings struck by hammers when you press keys, so people argue whether it is strings or percussion, and many just call it a keyboard instrument. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/5/) — A piano's strings are hit by small felt hammers when you press the keys, so people argue about its family and many call it a keyboard instrument. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/6/) — The saxophone is made of brass but is a woodwind, because it makes its sound with a reed, like a clarinet. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/7/) — Flutes used to be made of wood and some still are; the sound comes from blowing across an edge, so the flute is a woodwind. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/8/) — Brass players buzz their lips into the mouthpiece; blowing without buzzing gives just a hiss. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/9/) — The violin, viola, cello and double bass are all string instruments played with a bow or plucked; bigger ones play lower notes, and the cello and double bass are so big that they stand on the floor instead of resting under the chin like a violin. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/10/) — Percussion means instruments that are hit, shaken or scraped; some, like the xylophone and the timpani (big orchestra drums tuned to notes), play real notes. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/11/) — The tuba is the biggest and lowest brass instrument, and the trumpet is small and high; the player's size does not matter. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/12/) — Orchestras usually seat the quieter strings at the front and the louder brass and percussion at the back, to balance the sound. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/13/) — An electric guitar has a solid body and is quiet until it is plugged into an amplifier; an acoustic guitar has a hollow body that makes it louder without electricity. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/14/) — The ukulele grew out of small Portuguese guitars brought to Hawaii by immigrants from Madeira in the 1870s and 1880s, and was developed in Hawaii. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/15/) — Rosin is hardened pine resin rubbed on a bow so the hair grips the strings and makes them vibrate; traditional bow hair is horsehair. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/9-instrument-families-strings-wind-brass-percussion-keys/16/) — The family of an instrument depends on how the sound is made, not on its material. - ← previous: [Singing, choirs and talent shows](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/8-singing-choirs-and-talent-shows/) - next →: [Instruments of the world: bandura, erhu, sitar, kora, didgeridoo and more](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/10-instruments-of-the-world-bandura-erhu-sitar-kora-didgeridoo/) - ↑ back to [Arts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/)