What is an orchestra?
An A large group of string, wind, brass and percussion instruments that all play together. is a large musical A group of musicians who perform together. that includes instruments from four families of instruments.
They are:
- the string section
- the woodwind section
- the brass section
- the percussion section
An orchestra can have up to 100 players or more. They're led by one person, called a The person who makes sure everyone in an orchestra is playing the right thing at the right time., who makes sure they all play at the correct time.
What are the families of the orchestra?
Each instrument in an orchestral family are related to each other and played in a similar way.
Image caption, String family
The string family includes the violin, viola, cello and double bass. These instruments are all played the same way, by bowing across the strings or plucking. The bigger ones create a lower sound.
1 of 4
Watch: What do they sound like?
Watch musicians from the ±«Óătv Philharmonic Orchestra play and talk about their different instruments.
What is a conductor?
The conductor stands at the front of the orchestra and directs the players how to play the music.
The notes the players should play are written down on the music, but it's the conductor who tells them in what way to play it.
The conductor decides how fast or slow, loud or soft, spiky or smooth the music will be played.
The conductor holds a baton and moves it up and down to direct the speed of the music. The players should be watching the conductor to know exactly when to play. The baton helps all of the players to be able to see the conductor.
What music does the orchestra play?
The orchestra can play very soft music and very loud music.
Have a listen to these two pieces of orchestral music, to discover how the orchestra can play in very different ways.
Watch: Earth by Hans Zimmer
The ±«Óătv Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus perform Earth by Hans Zimmer. From Ten Pieces Trailblazers.
Watch: Mambo by Leonard Bernstein
The ±«Óătv Philharmonic Orchestra perform Bernstein's 'Mambo', conducted by Alpesh Chauhan. From Ten Pieces Trailblazers.
You can learn more about Hans Zimmer and Leonard Bernstein with ±«Óătv Ten Pieces.
Activities
Bitesize Primary games. game
Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.
More on Musical Journeys
Find out more by working through a topic
- count6 of 7
- count7 of 7
- count2 of 7
