Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted

to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that
produces sound can be considered a musical
instrument—it is through purpose that the object
becomes a musical instrument. A person who plays a
musical instrument is known as an instrumentalist.
The history of musical instruments dates to the
beginnings of human culture. Early musical
instruments may have been used for rituals, such as a
horn to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a
religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed
composition and performance of melodies for
entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step
Anne Vallayer-Coster, Attributes of Music, 1770.
with changing applications and technologies.
This still life painting depicts a variety of French
Baroque musical instruments, such as a natural
The date and origin of the first device considered a
horn, transverse flute, musette, pardessus de
musical instrument is disputed. The oldest object that
viole, and lute.
some scholars refer to as a musical instrument, a
simple flute, dates back as far as 67,000 years. Some
consensus dates early flutes to about 37,000 years ago.
However, most historians believe that determining a specific time of musical instrument invention is
impossible, as many early musical instruments were made from animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-
durable materials.

Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world. However, contact
among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin.
By the post-classical era, instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia, and Europeans
played instruments originating from North Africa. Development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace,
but cultures of North, Central, and South America shared musical instruments.

By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in many areas and was dominated by the Occident.
During the Classical and Romantic periods of music, lasting from roughly 1750 to 1900, many new
musical instruments were developed. While the evolution of traditional musical instruments slowed
beginning in the 20th century, the proliferation of electricity led to the invention of new electric instruments,
such as electric guitars, synthesizers and the theremin.

Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have
been used over the years. Instruments can be classified by their effective range, material composition, size,
role, etc. However, the most common academic method, Hornbostel–Sachs, uses the means by which they
produce sound. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.

Contents
Definition and basic operation
Archaeology
History
Prehistoric
Antiquity
Post-classical era/Middle Ages
Modern
Western Classical
Renaissance
Baroque
Classical and Romantic
Twentieth century to present
Classification
Ancient systems
Hornbostel–Sachs
Schaeffner
Range
Construction
User interfaces
Instrumentalist
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Definition and basic operation

A musical instrument is used to make musical sounds. Once humans moved from making sounds with their
bodies — for example, by clapping—to using objects to create music from sounds, musical instruments
were born.[1] Primitive instruments were probably designed to emulate natural sounds, and their purpose
was ritual rather than entertainment.[2] The concept of melody and the artistic pursuit of musical
composition were probably unknown to early players of musical instruments. A person sounding a bone
flute to signal the start of a hunt does so without thought of the modern notion of "making music".[2]

Musical instruments are constructed in a broad array of styles and shapes, using many different materials.
Early musical instruments were made from "found objects" such as shells and plant parts.[2] As instruments
evolved, so did the selection and quality of materials. Virtually every material in nature has been used by at
least one culture to make musical instruments.[2] One plays a musical instrument by interacting with it in
some way — for example, by plucking the strings on a string instrument, striking the surface of a drum, or
blowing into an animal horn.[2]

Archaeology
Researchers have discovered archaeological evidence of musical
instruments in many parts of the world. Some artifacts have been
dated to 67,000 years old, while critics often dispute the findings.
Consensus solidifying about artifacts dated back to around 37,000
years old and later. Artifacts made from durable materials, or
constructed using durable methods, have been found to survive.
As such, the specimens found cannot be irrefutably placed as the
earliest musical instruments.[3]

In July 1995, Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Turk discovered a bone

carving in the northwest region of Slovenia. The carving, named
the Divje Babe Flute, features four holes that Canadian
musicologist Bob Fink determined could have been used to play
four notes of a diatonic scale. Researchers estimate the flute's age
at between 43,400 and 67,000 years old, making it the oldest
known musical instrument and the only musical instrument
associated with Neanderthal culture.[4] However, some Bamileke slit drum drummers in
archaeologists and ethnomusicologists dispute the flute's status as a Cameroon's West Province.
musical instrument.[5] German archaeologists have found
mammoth bone and swan bone flutes dating back to 30,000 to
37,000 years old in the Swabian Alps. The flutes were made in the
Upper Paleolithic age, and are more commonly accepted as being
the oldest known musical instruments.[6]

Archaeological evidence of musical instruments was discovered in

excavations at the Royal Cemetery in the Sumerian city of Ur.
These instruments, one of the first ensembles of instruments yet
discovered, include nine lyres ( the Lyres of Ur), two harps, a silver
double flute, a sistra and cymbals. A set of reed-sounded silver
pipes discovered in Ur was the likely predecessor of modern
bagpipes.[7] The cylindrical pipes feature three side-holes that
allowed players to produce whole tone scales.[8] These
excavations, carried out by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s,
uncovered non-degradable fragments of instruments and the voids
left by the degraded segments that, together, have been used to
reconstruct them.[9] The graves these instruments were buried in
have been carbon dated to between 2600 and 2500 BC, providing
evidence that these instruments were used in Sumeria by this
Found in Slovenia, the Divje Babe
time.[10]
Flute is sometimes considered the
world's oldest known musical
Archaeologists in the Jiahu site of central Henan province of China
instrument
have found flutes made of bones that date back 7,000 to 9,000
years,[11] representing some of the "earliest complete, playable,
tightly-dated, multinote musical instruments" ever found.[11][12]

History
Scholars agree that there are no completely reliable methods of determining the exact chronology of
musical instruments across cultures. Comparing and organizing instruments based on their complexity is
misleading, since advancements in musical instruments have sometimes reduced complexity. For example,
construction of early slit drums involved felling and hollowing out large trees; later slit drums were made by
opening bamboo stalks, a much simpler task.[13]

German musicologist Curt Sachs, one of the most prominent musicologists[14] and musical ethnologists[15]
in modern times, argues that it is misleading to arrange the development of musical instruments by
workmanship, since cultures advance at different rates and have access to different raw materials. For
example, contemporary anthropologists comparing musical instruments from two cultures that existed at the
same time but differed in organization, culture, and handicraft cannot determine which instruments are more
"primitive".[16] Ordering instruments by geography is also not reliable, as it cannot always be determined
when and how cultures contacted one another and shared knowledge. Sachs proposed that a geographical
chronology until approximately 1400 is preferable, however, due to its limited subjectivity.[17] Beyond
1400, one can follow the overall development of musical instruments over time.[17]

The science of marking the order of musical instrument development relies on archaeological artifacts,
artistic depictions, and literary references. Since data in one research path can be inconclusive, all three
paths provide a better historical picture.[3]

Prehistoric

Until the 19th century AD, European-written music histories began

with mythological accounts mingled with scripture of how musical
instruments were invented. Such accounts included Jubal,
descendant of Cain and "father of all such as handle the harp and
the organ" (Genesis 4:21) Pan, inventor of the pan pipes, and
Mercury, who is said to have made a dried tortoise shell into the
first lyre. Modern histories have replaced such mythology with
anthropological speculation, occasionally informed by
archeological evidence. Scholars agree that there was no definitive
"invention" of the musical instrument since the term "musical
instrument" is subjective and hard to define.[18] Two Aztec slit drums (teponaztli).
The characteristic "H" slits can be
Among the first devices external to the human body that are seen on the top of the drum in the
considered instruments are rattles, stampers, and various drums.[19] foreground.
These instruments evolved due to the human motor impulse to add
sound to emotional movements such as dancing.[20] Eventually,
some cultures assigned ritual functions to their musical instruments, using them for hunting and various
ceremonies.[21] Those cultures developed more complex percussion instruments and other instruments such
as ribbon reeds, flutes, and trumpets. Some of these labels carry far different connotations from those used
in modern day; early flutes and trumpets are so-labeled for their basic operation and function rather than
resemblance to modern instruments.[22] Among early cultures for whom drums developed ritual, even
sacred importance are the Chukchi people of the Russian Far East, the indigenous people of Melanesia, and
many cultures of Africa. In fact, drums were pervasive throughout every African culture.[23] One East
African tribe, the Wahinda, believed it was so holy that seeing a drum would be fatal to any person other
than the sultan.[24]

Humans eventually developed the concept of using musical instruments to produce melody, which was
previously common only in singing. Similar to the process of reduplication in language, instrument players
first developed repetition and then arrangement. An early form of melody was produced by pounding two
stamping tubes of slightly different sizes—one tube would produce a "clear" sound and the other would
answer with a "darker" sound. Such instrument pairs also included bullroarers, slit drums, shell trumpets,
and skin drums. Cultures who used these instrument pairs associated them with gender; the "father" was the
bigger or more energetic instrument, while the "mother" was the
smaller or duller instrument. Musical instruments existed in this
form for thousands of years before patterns of three or more tones
would evolve in the form of the earliest xylophone.[25] Xylophones
originated in the mainland and archipelago of Southeast Asia,
eventually spreading to Africa, the Americas, and Europe.[26]
Along with xylophones, which ranged from simple sets of three
"leg bars" to carefully tuned sets of parallel bars, various cultures
developed instruments such as the ground harp, ground zither,
musical bow, and jaw harp.[27] Recent research into usage wear
and acoustics of stone artefacts has revealed a possible new class of
prehistoric musical instrument, known as lithophones.[28][29]

Antiquity

Images of musical instruments begin to appear in Mesopotamian Guitar (molo)

artifacts in 2800 BC or earlier. Beginning around 2000 BC,
Sumerian and Babylonian cultures began delineating two distinct
classes of musical instruments due to division of labor and the evolving class system. Popular instruments,
simple and playable by anyone, evolved differently from professional instruments whose development
focused on effectiveness and skill.[30] Despite this development, very few musical instruments have been
recovered in Mesopotamia. Scholars must rely on artifacts and cuneiform texts written in Sumerian or
Akkadian to reconstruct the early history of musical instruments in Mesopotamia. Even the process of
assigning names to these instruments is challenging since there is no clear distinction among various
instruments and the words used to describe them.[31]

Although Sumerian and Babylonian artists mainly depicted ceremonial instruments, historians have
distinguished six idiophones used in early Mesopotamia: concussion clubs, clappers, sistra, bells, cymbals,
and rattles.[32] Sistra are depicted prominently in a great relief of Amenhotep III,[33] and are of particular
interest because similar designs have been found in far-reaching places such as Tbilisi, Georgia and among
the Native American Yaqui tribe.[34] The people of Mesopotamia preferred stringed instruments, as
evidenced by their proliferation in Mesopotamian figurines, plaques, and seals. Innumerable varieties of
harps are depicted, as well as lyres and lutes, the forerunner of modern stringed instruments such as the
violin.[35]

Musical instruments used by the Egyptian culture before 2700 BC

bore striking similarity to those of Mesopotamia, leading historians
to conclude that the civilizations must have been in contact with
one another. Sachs notes that Egypt did not possess any instruments
that the Sumerian culture did not also possess.[36] However, by
2700 BC the cultural contacts seem to have dissipated; the lyre, a
prominent ceremonial instrument in Sumer, did not appear in Egypt
for another 800 years.[36] Clappers and concussion sticks appear on
Egyptian vases as early as 3000 BC. The civilization also made use
of sistra, vertical flutes, double clarinets, arched and angular harps,
and various drums.[37] Ancient Egyptian tomb painting
depicting lute players, 18th Dynasty
Little history is available in the period between 2700 BC and 1500 (c. 1350 BC)
BC, as Egypt (and indeed, Babylon) entered a long violent period
of war and destruction. This period saw the Kassites destroy the
Babylonian empire in Mesopotamia and the Hyksos destroy the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. When the
Pharaohs of Egypt conquered Southwest Asia in around 1500 BC, the cultural ties to Mesopotamia were
renewed and Egypt's musical instruments also reflected heavy influence from Asiatic cultures.[36] Under
their new cultural influences, the people of the New Kingdom began using oboes, trumpets, lyres, lutes,
castanets, and cymbals.[38]

Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, professional musicians did not exist in Israel between 2000 and 1000 BC.
While the history of musical instruments in Mesopotamia and Egypt relies on artistic representations, the
culture in Israel produced few such representations. Scholars must therefore rely on information gleaned
from the Bible and the Talmud.[39] The Hebrew texts mention two prominent instruments associated with
Jubal: the ugab (pipes) and kinnor (lyre).[40] Other instruments of the period included the tof (frame drum),
pa'amon (small bells or jingles), shofar, and the trumpet-like hasosra.[41]

The introduction of a monarchy in Israel during the 11th  century BC produced the first professional
musicians and with them a drastic increase in the number and variety of musical instruments.[42] However,
identifying and classifying the instruments remains a challenge due to the lack of artistic interpretations. For
example, stringed instruments of uncertain design called nevals and asors existed, but neither archaeology
nor etymology can clearly define them.[43] In her book A Survey of Musical Instruments, American
musicologist Sibyl Marcuse proposes that the nevel must be similar to vertical harp due to its relation to
nabla, the Phoenician term for "harp".[44]

In Greece, Rome, and Etruria, the use and development of musical instruments stood in stark contrast to
those cultures' achievements in architecture and sculpture. The instruments of the time were simple and
virtually all of them were imported from other cultures.[45] Lyres were the principal instrument, as
musicians used them to honor the gods.[46] Greeks played a variety of wind instruments they classified as
aulos (reeds) or syrinx (flutes); Greek writing from that time reflects a serious study of reed production and
playing technique.[8] Romans played reed instruments named tibia, featuring side-holes that could be
opened or closed, allowing for greater flexibility in playing modes.[47] Other instruments in common use in
the region included vertical harps derived from those of the Orient, lutes of Egyptian design, various pipes
and organs, and clappers, which were played primarily by women.[48]

Evidence of musical instruments in use by early civilizations of India is almost completely lacking, making
it impossible to reliably attribute instruments to the Munda and Dravidian language-speaking cultures that
first settled the area. Rather, the history of musical instruments in the area begins with the Indus Valley
Civilization that emerged around 3000 BC. Various rattles and whistles found among excavated artifacts
are the only physical evidence of musical instruments.[49] A clay statuette indicates the use of drums, and
examination of the Indus script has also revealed representations of vertical arched harps identical in design
to those depicted in Sumerian artifacts. This discovery is among many indications that the Indus Valley and
Sumerian cultures maintained cultural contact. Subsequent developments in musical instruments in India
occurred with the Rigveda, or hymns. These songs used various drums, shell trumpets, harps, and
flutes.[50] Other prominent instruments in use during the early centuries AD were the snake charmer's
double clarinet, bagpipes, barrel drums, cross flutes, and short lutes. In all, India had no unique musical
instruments until the post-classical era.[51]

Musical instruments such as zithers appeared in Chinese writings around 12th century BC and earlier.[52]
Early Chinese philosophers such as Confucius (551–479 BC), Mencius (372–289 BC), and Laozi shaped
the development of musical instruments in China, adopting an attitude toward music similar to that of the
Greeks. The Chinese believed that music was an essential part of character and community, and developed
a unique system of classifying their musical instruments according to their material makeup.[53]

Idiophones were extremely important in Chinese music, hence the majority of early instruments were
idiophones. Poetry of the Shang dynasty mentions bells, chimes, drums, and globular flutes carved from
bone, the latter of which has been excavated and preserved by archaeologists.[54] The Zhou dynasty saw
percussion instruments such as clappers, troughs, wooden fish, and
yǔ (wooden tiger). Wind instruments such as flute, pan-pipes,
pitch-pipes, and mouth organs also appeared in this time period.[55]
The xiao (an end-blown flute) and various other instruments that
spread through many cultures, came into use in China during and
after the Han dynasty.[56]

Although civilizations in Central America attained a relatively high

level of sophistication by the eleventh century AD, they lagged
behind other civilizations in the development of musical The monumental Bianzhong of
instruments. For example, they had no stringed instruments; all of Marquis Yi of Zeng, c. 5th century
their instruments were idiophones, drums, and wind instruments BCE, from Hubei
such as flutes and trumpets. Of these, only the flute was capable of
producing a melody.[57] In contrast, pre-Columbian South
American civilizations in areas such as modern-day Peru,
Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile were less advanced
culturally but more advanced musically. South American cultures
of the time used pan-pipes as well as varieties of flutes, idiophones,
drums, and shell or wood trumpets.[58]

An instrument that can be attested to the Iron Age Celts is the

carnyx which is dated to ~300 BC, the elongated trumpet-like
instrument which had the end of the bell crafted from bronze into Carnyx discovered in Tintignac
the shape of a screaming animal head which was held high above
their heads, when blown into, the carnyx would emit a deep, harsh
sound, the head also had a tongue which clicked when vibrated, the intention of the instrument was to use it
on the battleground to intimidate their opponents.[59][60]

Post-classical era/Middle Ages

During the period of time loosely referred to as the post-classical era and Europe in particular as the Middle
Ages, China developed a tradition of integrating musical influence from other regions. The first record of
this type of influence is in 384 AD, when China established an orchestra in its imperial court after a
conquest in Turkestan. Influences from Middle East, Persia, India, Mongolia, and other countries followed.
In fact, Chinese tradition attributes many musical instruments from this period to those regions and
countries.[61] Cymbals gained popularity, along with more advanced trumpets, clarinets, pianos, oboes,
flutes, drums, and lutes.[62] Some of the first bowed zithers appeared in China in the 9th or 10th century,
influenced by Mongolian culture.[63]

India experienced similar development to China in the post-classical era; however, stringed instruments
developed differently as they accommodated different styles of music. While stringed instruments of China
were designed to produce precise tones capable of matching the tones of chimes, stringed instruments of
India were considerably more flexible. This flexibility suited the slides and tremolos of Hindu music.
Rhythm was of paramount importance in Indian music of the time, as evidenced by the frequent depiction
of drums in reliefs dating to the post-classical era. The emphasis on rhythm is an aspect native to Indian
music.[64] Historians divide the development of musical instruments in medieval India between pre-Islamic
and Islamic periods due to the different influence each period provided.[65]

In pre-Islamic times, idiophones such as handbells, cymbals, and peculiar instruments resembling gongs
came into wide use in Hindu music. The gong-like instrument was a bronze disk that was struck with a
hammer instead of a mallet. Tubular drums, stick zithers (veena), short fiddles, double and triple flutes,
coiled trumpets, and curved India horns emerged in this time period.[66] Islamic influences brought new
types of drum, perfectly circular or octagonal as opposed to the irregular pre-Islamic drums.[67] Persian
influence brought oboes and sitars, although Persian sitars had three strings and Indian version had from
four to seven.[68] The Islamic culture also introduced double-clarinet instruments as the Alboka (from Arab,
al-buq or "horn") nowadays only alive in Basque Country. It must be played using the technique of the
circular breathing.

Southeast Asian musical innovations include those during a period

of Indian influence that ended around 920 AD.[69] Balinese and
Javanese music made use of xylophones and metallophones,
bronze versions of the former.[70] The most prominent and
important musical instrument of Southeast Asia was the gong.
While the gong likely originated in the geographical area between
Tibet and Burma, it was part of every category of human activity in
maritime Southeast Asia including Java.[71]
The Alboka has a double-reed that
The areas of Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula experiences vibrates when blown on the small
rapid growth and sharing of musical instruments once they were tube. The tubes regulates the melody
united by Islamic culture in the seventh century.[72] Frame drums and the big horn amplifies the sound.
and cylindrical drums of various depths were immensely important
in all genres of music.[73] Conical oboes were involved in the
music that accompanied wedding and circumcision ceremonies.
Persian miniatures provide information on the development of
kettle drums in Mesopotamia that spread as far as Java.[74] Various
lutes, zithers, dulcimers, and harps spread as far as Madagascar to
the south and modern-day Sulawesi to the east.[75]

Despite the influences of Greece and Rome, most musical

instruments in Europe during the Middles Ages came from Asia.
An Indonesian metallophone
The lyre is the only musical instrument that may have been
invented in Europe until this period.[76] Stringed instruments were
prominent in Middle Age Europe. The central and northern regions
used mainly lutes, stringed instruments with necks, while the southern region used lyres, which featured a
two-armed body and a crossbar.[76] Various harps served Central and Northern Europe as far north as
Ireland, where the harp eventually became a national symbol.[77] Lyres propagated through the same areas,
as far east as Estonia.[78]

European music between 800 and 1100 became more sophisticated, more frequently requiring instruments
capable of polyphony. The 9th-century Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh mentioned in his
lexicographical discussion of music instruments that, in the Byzantine Empire, typical instruments included
the urghun (organ), shilyani (probably a type of harp or lyre), salandj (probably a bagpipe) and the lyra.[79]
The Byzantine lyra, a bowed string instrument, is an ancestor of most European bowed instruments,
including the violin.[80]

The monochord served as a precise measure of the notes of a musical scale, allowing more accurate musical
arrangements.[81] Mechanical hurdy-gurdies allowed single musicians to play more complicated
arrangements than a fiddle would; both were prominent folk instruments in the Middle Ages.[82][83]
Southern Europeans played short and long lutes whose pegs extended to the sides, unlike the rear-facing
pegs of Central and Northern European instruments.[84] Idiophones such as bells and clappers served
various practical purposes, such as warning of the approach of a leper.[85]
The ninth century revealed the first bagpipes, which spread throughout Europe and had many uses from
folk instruments to military instruments.[86] The construction of pneumatic organs evolved in Europe
starting in fifth-century Spain, spreading to England in about 700.[87] The resulting instruments varied in
size and use from portable organs worn around the neck to large pipe organs.[88] Literary accounts of
organs being played in English Benedictine abbeys toward the end of the tenth century are the first
references to organs being connected to churches.[89] Reed players of the Middle Ages were limited to
oboes; no evidence of clarinets exists during this period.[90]

Modern

Western Classical

Renaissance

Musical instrument development was dominated by the Occident from 1400 on, indeed, the most profound
changes occurred during the Renaissance period.[18] Instruments took on other purposes than
accompanying singing or dance, and performers used them as solo instruments. Keyboards and lutes
developed as polyphonic instruments, and composers arranged increasingly complex pieces using more
advanced tablature. Composers also began designing pieces of music for specific instruments.[18] In the
latter half of the sixteenth century, orchestration came into common practice as a method of writing music
for a variety of instruments. Composers now specified orchestration where individual performers once
applied their own discretion.[91] The polyphonic style dominated popular music, and the instrument makers
responded accordingly.[92]

Beginning in about 1400, the rate of development of musical

instruments increased in earnest as compositions demanded more
dynamic sounds. People also began writing books about creating,
playing, and cataloging musical instruments; the first such book was
Sebastian Virdung's 1511 treatise Musica getuscht und ausgezogen
('Music Germanized and Abstracted').[91] Virdung's work is noted as
being particularly thorough for including descriptions of "irregular"
instruments such as hunters' horns and cow bells, though Virdung is The Duet, by Dutch painter
critical of the same. Other books followed, including Arnolt Schlick's Cornelis Saftleven, c. 1635. It
Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten ('Mirror of Organ Makers shows a violinist and a cittern
and Organ Players') the following year, a treatise on organ building player.
and organ playing.[93] Of the instructional books and references
published in the Renaissance era, one is noted for its detailed
description and depiction of all wind and stringed instruments, including their relative sizes. This book, the
Syntagma musicum by Michael Praetorius, is now considered an authoritative reference of sixteenth-
century musical instruments.[94]

In the sixteenth century, musical instrument builders gave most instruments – such as the violin – the
"classical shapes" they retain today. An emphasis on aesthetic beauty also developed; listeners were as
pleased with the physical appearance of an instrument as they were with its sound. Therefore, builders paid
special attention to materials and workmanship, and instruments became collectibles in homes and
museums.[95] It was during this period that makers began constructing instruments of the same type in
various sizes to meet the demand of consorts, or ensembles playing works written for these groups of
instruments.[96]
Instrument builders developed other features that endure today. For example, while organs with multiple
keyboards and pedals already existed, the first organs with solo stops emerged in the early fifteenth century.
These stops were meant to produce a mixture of timbres, a development needed for the complexity of
music of the time.[97] Trumpets evolved into their modern form to improve portability, and players used
mutes to properly blend into chamber music.[98]

Baroque

Beginning in the seventeenth century, composers began writing

works to a higher emotional degree. They felt that polyphony better
suited the emotional style they were aiming for and began writing
musical parts for instruments that would complement the singing
human voice.[92] As a result, many instruments that were incapable
of larger ranges and dynamics, and therefore were seen as
unemotional, fell out of favor. One such instrument was the
shawm.[99] Bowed instruments such as the violin, viola, baryton,
and various lutes dominated popular music.[100] Beginning in
around 1750, however, the lute disappeared from musical Baroque mounted Jacob Stainer
compositions in favor of the rising popularity of the guitar.[101] As violin from 1658
the prevalence of string orchestras rose, wind instruments such as
the flute, oboe, and bassoon were readmitted to counteract the
monotony of hearing only strings.[102]

In the mid-seventeenth century, what was known as a hunter's horn underwent a transformation into an "art
instrument" consisting of a lengthened tube, a narrower bore, a wider bell, and a much wider range. The
details of this transformation are unclear, but the modern horn or, more colloquially, French horn, had
emerged by 1725.[103] The slide trumpet appeared, a variation that includes a long-throated mouthpiece
that slid in and out, allowing the player infinite adjustments in pitch. This variation on the trumpet was
unpopular due to the difficulty involved in playing it.[104] Organs underwent tonal changes in the Baroque
period, as manufacturers such as Abraham Jordan of London made the stops more expressive and added
devices such as expressive pedals. Sachs viewed this trend as a "degeneration" of the general organ
sound.[105]

Classical and Romantic

During the Classical and Romantic periods of music, lasting from roughly 1750 to 1900, many musical
instruments capable of producing new timbres and higher volume were developed and introduced into
popular music. The design changes that broadened the quality of timbres allowed instruments to produce a
wider variety of expression. Large orchestras rose in popularity and, in parallel, the composers determined
to produce entire orchestral scores that made use of the expressive abilities of modern instruments. Since
instruments were involved in collaborations of a much larger scale, their designs had to evolve to
accommodate the demands of the orchestra.[106]

Some instruments also had to become louder to fill larger halls and be heard over sizable orchestras. Flutes
and bowed instruments underwent many modifications and design changes—most of them unsuccessful—
in efforts to increase volume. Other instruments were changed just so they could play their parts in the
scores. Trumpets traditionally had a "defective" range—they were incapable of producing certain notes
with precision.[107] New instruments such as the clarinet, saxophone, and tuba became fixtures in
orchestras. Instruments such as the clarinet also grew into entire "families" of instruments capable of
different ranges: small clarinets, normal clarinets, bass clarinets, and so on.[106]
Accompanying the changes to timbre and volume was a shift in the
typical pitch used to tune instruments. Instruments meant to play
together, as in an orchestra, must be tuned to the same standard lest
they produce audibly different sounds while playing the same notes.
Beginning in 1762, the average concert pitch began rising from a low
of 377 vibrations to a high of 457 in 1880 Vienna.[108] Different
regions, countries, and even instrument manufacturers preferred
different standards, making orchestral collaboration a challenge.
Despite even the efforts of two organized international summits
attended by noted composers like Hector Berlioz, no standard could be
agreed upon.[109]

Twentieth century to present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart plays

the keyboard while his father,
The evolution of traditional musical instruments slowed beginning in Leopold Mozart, plays violin.
the 20th century.[110] Instruments such as the violin, flute, french horn,
and harp are largely the same as those manufactured throughout the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Gradual iterations do emerge; for
example, the "New Violin Family" began in 1964 to provide
differently sized violins to expand the range of available sounds.[111]
The slowdown in development was a practical response to the
concurrent slowdown in orchestra and venue size.[112] Despite this
trend in traditional instruments, the development of new musical
instruments exploded in the twentieth century, and the variety of
instruments developed overshadows any prior period.[110]

The proliferation of electricity in the 20th century led to a new category

of musical instruments: electronic instruments, or electrophones.[113]
The vast majority produced in the first half of the 20th century were
what Sachs called "electromechanical instruments"; they have
mechanical parts that produce sound vibrations picked up and
A “young boy playing the violin”
amplified by electrical components. Examples include Hammond from Glengarry County, Ontario
organs and electric guitars.[113] Sachs also defined a subcategory of taken [between 1895 and 1910]
"radioelectric instruments" such as the theremin, which produces music from the Bartle Brothers fonds at
through the player's hand movements around two antennas.[114] the Archives of Ontario.

The latter half of the 20th century saw the evolution of synthesizers,
which produce sound using circuits and microchips. In the late 1960s,
Bob Moog and other inventors developed the first commercial
synthesizers, such as the Moog synthesizer.[115] Whereas once they had
filled rooms, synthesizers can now be embedded in any electronic
device,[115] and are ubiquitous in modern music.[116] Samplers,
introduced around 1980, allow users to sample and reuse existing
sounds, and were important to the development of hip hop.[117] 1982
saw the introduction of MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing
electronic instruments.[118] The modern proliferation of computers and Early Fender brand electric
microchips has created an industry of electronic musical guitars
instruments.[119]

Classification
There are many different methods of classifying musical instruments.
Various methods examine aspects such as the physical properties of the
instrument (material, color, shape, etc.), the use for the instrument, the
means by which music is produced with the instrument, the range of
the instrument, and the instrument's place in an orchestra or other
ensemble. Most methods are specific to a geographic area or cultural
group and were developed to serve the unique classification
requirements of the group.[120] The problem with these specialized
classification schemes is that they tend to break down once they are A 1975 Moog Modular 55
applied outside of their original area. For example, a system based on synthesizer
instrument use would fail if a culture invented a new use for the same
instrument. Scholars recognize Hornbostel–Sachs as the only system
that applies to any culture and, more importantly, provides the only possible classification for each
instrument.[121][122] The most common classifications are strings, brass, woodwind, and percussion.

Ancient systems

An ancient Hindu system named the Natya Shastra, written by the sage Bharata Muni and dating from
between 200 BC and 200 AD, divides instruments into four main classification groups: instruments where
the sound is produced by vibrating strings; percussion instruments with skin heads; instruments where the
sound is produced by vibrating columns of air; and "solid", or non-skin, percussion instruments.[121] This
system was similar to some degree in 12th-century Europe by Johannes de Muris, who used the terms
tensibilia (stringed instruments), inflatibilia (wind instruments), and percussibilia (all percussion
instruments).[123] In 1880, Victor-Charles Mahillon adapted the Natya Shastra and assigned Greek labels
to the four classifications: chordophones (stringed instruments), membranophones (skin-head percussion
instruments), aerophones (wind instruments), and autophones (non-skin percussion instruments).[121]

Hornbostel–Sachs

Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs adopted Mahillon's scheme and published an extensive new scheme
for classification in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. Hornbostel and Sachs used most of Mahillon's
system, but replaced the term autophone with idiophone.[121]

The original Hornbostel–Sachs system classified instruments into four main groups:

Idiophones, which produce sound by vibrating the primary body of the instrument itself; they
are sorted into concussion, percussion, shaken, scraped, split, and plucked idiophones,
such as claves, xylophone, guiro, slit drum, mbira, and rattle.[124]
Membranophones, which produce sound by a vibrating a stretched membrane; they may be
drums (further sorted by the shape of the shell), which are struck by hand, with a stick, or
rubbed, but kazoos and other instruments that use a stretched membrane for the primary
sound (not simply to modify sound produced in another way) are also considered
membranophones.[125]
Chordophones, which produce sound by vibrating one or more strings; they are sorted
according to the relationship between the string(s) and the sounding board or chamber. For
example, if the strings are laid out parallel to the sounding board and there is no neck, the
instrument is a zither whether it is plucked like an autoharp or struck with hammers like a
piano. If the instrument has strings parallel to the sounding board or chamber and the strings
extend past the board with a neck, then the instrument is a lute, whether the sound chamber
is constructed of wood like a guitar or uses a membrane like a banjo.[126]
 Aerophones, which produce a sound with a vibrating column of air; they are sorted into free
aerophones such as a bullroarer or whip, which move freely through the air; reedless
aerophones such as flutes and recorders, which cause the air to pass over a sharp edge;
reed instruments, which use a vibrating reed (this category may be further divided into two
classifications: single-reeded and double-reeded instruments. Examples of the former are
clarinets and saxophones, while the latter includes oboes and bassoons); and lip-vibrated
aerophones such as trumpets, trombones and tubas, for which the lips themselves function
as vibrating reeds.[127]

Sachs later added a fifth category, electrophones, such as theremins, which produce sound by electronic
means.[113] Within each category are many subgroups. The system has been criticised and revised over the
years, but remains widely used by ethnomusicologists and organologists.[123][128]

Schaeffner

Andre Schaeffner, a curator at the Musée de l'Homme, disagreed with the Hornbostel–Sachs system and
developed his own system in 1932. Schaeffner believed that the pure physics of a musical instrument,
rather than its specific construction or playing method, should always determine its classification.
(Hornbostel–Sachs, for example, divides aerophones on the basis of sound production, but
membranophones on the basis of the shape of the instrument). His system divided instruments into two
categories: instruments with solid, vibrating bodies and instruments containing vibrating air.[129]

Range

Musical instruments are also often classified by their musical range in comparison with other instruments in
the same family. This exercise is useful when placing instruments in context of an orchestra or other
ensemble.

These terms are named after singing voice classifications:

Soprano instruments: flute, violin, soprano saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, oboe, piccolo
Alto instruments: alto saxophone, french horn, alto flute, english horn, alto clarinet, viola, alto
horn
Tenor instruments: trombone, tenoroon, tenor saxophone, tenor violin, guitar, tenor drum
Baritone instruments: bassoon, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, cello, baritone horn,
euphonium
Bass instruments: double bass, bass guitar, contrabassoon, bass saxophone, tuba, bass
drum

Some instruments fall into more than one category. For example, the cello may be considered tenor,
baritone or bass, depending on how its music fits into the ensemble. The trombone and French horn may be
alto, tenor, baritone, or bass depending on the range it is played in. Many instruments have their range as
part of their name: soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone horn, alto flute, bass guitar, etc.
Additional adjectives describe instruments above the soprano range or below the bass, for example the
sopranino saxophone and contrabass clarinet. When used in the name of an instrument, these terms are
relative, describing the instrument's range in comparison to other instruments of its family and not in
comparison to the human voice range or instruments of other families. For example, a bass flute's range is
from C3 to F♯6 , while a bass clarinet plays about one octave lower.
Construction
The materials used in making musical instruments vary greatly by
culture and application. Many of the materials have special
significance owing to their source or rarity. Some cultures worked
substances from the human body into their instruments. In ancient
Mexico, for example, the material drums were made from might
contain actual human body parts obtained from sacrificial offerings.
In New Guinea, drum makers would mix human blood into the
African kalimba made from a food
adhesive used to attach the membrane.[130] Mulberry trees are held
can
in high regard in China owing to their mythological significance—
instrument makers would hence use them to make zithers. The
Yakuts believe that making drums from trees struck by lightning gives them a special connection to
nature.[131]

Musical instrument construction is a specialized trade that requires

years of training, practice, and sometimes an apprenticeship. Most
makers of musical instruments specialize in one genre of
instruments; for example, a luthier makes only stringed instruments.
Some make only one type of instrument such as a piano. Whatever
the instrument constructed, the instrument maker must consider
materials, construction technique, and decoration, creating a
balanced instrument that is both functional and aesthetically
pleasing.[132] Some builders are focused on a more artistic
approach and develop experimental musical instruments, often Two five string Finnish kanteles.
meant for individual playing styles developed by the builder Shape of the upper kantele is more
themself. traditional, while the one for kantele
below is slightly modernised

User interfaces
Regardless of how the sound is produced, many musical
instruments have a keyboard as the user interface. Keyboard
instruments are any instruments that are played with a musical
keyboard, which is a row of small keys that can be pressed. Every
key generates one or more sounds; most keyboard instruments have
extra means (pedals for a piano, stops and a pedal keyboard for an
organ) to manipulate these sounds. They may produce sound by
wind being fanned (organ) or pumped (accordion),[134][135]
vibrating strings either hammered (piano) or plucked
(harpsichord),[136][137] by electronic means (synthesizer),[138] or in The five-manual, 522-stop detached
some other way. Sometimes, instruments that do not usually have a console at the United States Naval
keyboard, such as the glockenspiel, are fitted with one.[139] Academy Chapel crafted by R. A.
Colby, Inc.[133]
Though they have no moving parts and are struck by mallets held
in the player's hands, they have the same physical arrangement of
keys and produce soundwaves in a similar manner. The theremin,
an electrophone, is played without physical contact by the player. The theremin senses the proximity of the
player's hands, which triggers changes in its sound. More recently, a MIDI controller keyboard used with a
digital audio workstation may have a musical keyboard and a bank of sliders, knobs, and buttons that
change many sound parameters of a synthesizer.
Instrumentalist
A person who plays a musical instrument is known as an instrumentalist or instrumental
musician.[140][141][142] Many instrumentalists are known for playing specific musical instruments such as
guitarist (guitar), pianist (piano), bassist (bass), and drummer (drum). These different types of
instrumentalists can perform together in a music group.[143] A person who is able to play a number of
instruments is called a multi-instrumentalist.[144] According to David Baskerville in the book Music
Business Handbook and Career Guide, the working hours of a full-time instrumentalist may average only
three hours a day, but most musicians spent at least 40 hours a week.[145]

See also
List of musical instruments
Folk instrument
Experimental musical instrument
Recording studio as an instrument
Music instrument technology
Orchestra

Notes
1. Montagu 2007, p. 1 12. "Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.)" (http://www.
2. Rault 2000, p. 9 metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jiah/hd_jiah.htm).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived
3. Blades 1992, p. 34
(https://web.archive.org/web/20100809083
4. Slovenian Academy of Sciences 1997, 316/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jia
pp. 203–205 h/hd_jiah.htm) from the original on 9
5. Chase & Nowell 1998, p. 549 August 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
6. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2004 13. Sachs 1940, p. 60
7. Collinson 1975, p. 10 14. Brown 2008
8. Campbell, Greated & Myers 2004, p. 82 15. Baines 1993, p. 37
9. de Schauensee 2002, pp. 1–16 16. Sachs 1940, p. 61
10. Moorey 1977, pp. 24–40 17. Sachs 1940, p. 63
11. "Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute 18. Sachs 1940, p. 297
Thought to be Oldest Playable Musical 19. Blades 1992, p. 36
Instrument" (http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pu
20. Sachs 1940, p. 26
baf/pr/1999/bnlpr092299.html).
Brookhaven National Laboratory. Archived 21. Rault 2000, p. 34
(https://web.archive.org/web/20210210214 22. Sachs 1940, pp. 34–52
041/https://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/1 23. Blades 1992, p. 51
999/bnlpr092299.html) from the original on
24. Sachs 1940, p. 35
10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February
2011. 25. Sachs 1940, pp. 52–53
26. Marcuse 1975, pp. 24–28
27. Sachs 1940, pp. 53–59
28. Caldwell, Duncan (2013). "A Possible 52. Sachs 1940, p. 185
New Class of Prehistoric Musical 53. Sachs 1940, pp. 162–164
Instruments from New England: Portable
54. Sachs 1940, p. 166
Cylindrical Lithophones" (https://www.cam
bridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquit 55. Sachs 1940, p. 178
y/article/abs/possible-new-class-of-prehist 56. Sachs 1940, p. 189
oric-musical-instruments-from-new-englan 57. Sachs 1940, p. 192
d-portable-cylindrical-lithophones/6A6FBD 58. Sachs 1940, pp. 196–201
649CF86DA2AC9DA2EE51917D99#).
59. "Deskford carnyx" (https://www.nms.ac.uk/
American Antiquity. 78 (3): 520–535.
explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-hist
doi:10.7183/0002-7316.78.3.520 (https://do
ory-and-archaeology/deskford-carnyx/).
i.org/10.7183%2F0002-7316.78.3.520).
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/202
S2CID 53959315 (https://api.semanticscho
10119182349/https://www.nms.ac.uk/explo
lar.org/CorpusID:53959315).
re-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-a
29. "(PDF) Flint Tools as Portable Sound- nd-archaeology/deskford-carnyx/) from the
Producing Objects in the Upper original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved
Palaeolithic Context: An Experimental 23 January 2021.
Study" (https://www.researchgate.net/publi
60. "Carnyx - Caledonians, Picts and Romans
cation/251594803). Archived (https://web.a
- Scotland's History" (http://www.sath.org.u
rchive.org/web/20210417033519/https://w
k/edscot/www.educationscotland.gov.uk/sc
ww.researchgate.net/publication/25159480
otlandshistory/caledonianspictsromans/car
3_Flint_Tools_as_Portable_Sound-Produc
nyx/index.html). Archived (https://web.archi
ing_Objects_in_the_Upper_Palaeolithic_
ve.org/web/20201130084604/http://www.s
Context_An_Experimental_Study) from the
ath.org.uk/edscot/www.educationscotland.
original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved
gov.uk/scotlandshistory/caledonianspictsro
28 March 2021.
mans/carnyx/index.html) from the original
30. Sachs 1940, p. 67 on 30 November 2020. Retrieved
31. Sachs 1940, pp. 68–69 23 January 2021.
32. Sachs 1940, p. 69 61. Sachs 1940, p. 207
33. Remnant 1989, p. 168 62. Sachs 1940, p. 218
34. Sachs 1940, p. 70 63. Sachs 1940, p. 216
35. Sachs 1940, p. 82 64. Sachs 1940, p. 221
36. Sachs 1940, p. 86 65. Sachs 1940, p. 222
37. Rault 2000, p. 71 66. Sachs 1940, pp. 222–228
38. Sachs 1940, pp. 98–104 67. Sachs 1940, p. 229
39. Sachs 1940, p. 105 68. Sachs 1940, p. 231
40. Sachs 1940, p. 106 69. Sachs 1940, p. 236
41. Sachs 1940, pp. 108–113 70. Sachs 1940, pp. 238–239
42. Sachs 1940, p. 114 71. Sachs 1940, p. 240
43. Sachs 1940, p. 116 72. Sachs 1940, p. 246
44. Marcuse 1975, p. 385 73. Sachs 1940, p. 249
45. Sachs 1940, p. 128 74. Sachs 1940, p. 250
46. Sachs 1940, p. 129 75. Sachs 1940, pp. 251–254
47. Campbell, Greated & Myers 2004, p. 83 76. Sachs 1940, p. 260
48. Sachs 1940, p. 149 77. Sachs 1940, p. 263
49. Sachs 1940, p. 151 78. Sachs 1940, p. 265
50. Sachs 1940, p. 152 79. Kartomi 1990, p. 124
51. Sachs 1940, p. 161 80. Grillet 1901, p. 29
 81. Sachs 1940, p. 269
82. Sachs 1940, p. 271
83. Sachs 1940, p. 274
84. Sachs 1940, p. 273
85. Sachs 1940, p. 278
86. Sachs 1940, p. 281
87. Sachs 1940, p. 284
88. Sachs 1940, p. 286
89. Bicknell 1999, p. 13
90. Sachs 1940, p. 288
91. Sachs 1940, p. 298
92. Sachs 1940, p. 351
93. Sachs 1940, p. 299
94. Sachs 1940, p. 301
95. Sachs 1940, p. 302
96. Sachs 1940, p. 303
97. Sachs 1940, p. 307
98. Sachs 1940, p. 328
99. Sachs 1940, p. 352
100. Sachs 1940, pp. 353–357
101. Sachs 1940, p. 374
102. Sachs 1940, p. 380
103. Sachs 1940, p. 384
104. Sachs 1940, p. 385
105. Sachs 1940, p. 386
106. Sachs 1940, p. 388
107. Sachs 1940, p. 389
108. Sachs 1940, p. 390
109. Sachs 1940, p. 391
110. Remnant 1989, p. 183
111. Remnant 1989, p. 70
112. Sachs 1940, p. 445
113. Sachs 1940, p. 447
114. Sachs 1940, p. 448
115. Pinch & Trocco 2004, p. 7
116. "The 14 most important synths in electronic
music history – and the musicians who use
them" (http://www.factmag.com/2016/09/1
5/14-most-important-synths/). FACT
Magazine: Music News, New Music. 15
September 2016. Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20191102120103/https://ww
w.factmag.com/2016/09/15/14-most-import
ant-synths/) from the original on 2
November 2019. Retrieved 19 October
2018.
117. McNamee, David (28 September 2009).
"Hey, what's that sound: Sampler" (https://
www.theguardian.com/music/2009/sep/28/
whats-that-sound-sampler). The Guardian.
ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.worldcat.org/
issn/0261-3077). Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20140304190836/http://www.
theguardian.com/music/2009/sep/28/whats
-that-sound-sampler) from the original on 4
March 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
118. Bateman, Tom (28 November 2012). "How
MIDI changed the world of music" (https://w
ww.bbc.com/news/technology-20425376).
BBC News. Archived (https://web.archive.o
rg/web/20190427220431/https://www.bbc.
com/news/technology-20425376) from the
original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved
1 March 2020.
119. Manning 2004, pp. 268–270
120. Montagu 2007, p. 210
121. Montagu 2007, p. 211
122. Kartomi 1990, p. 176
123. Rault 2000, p. 190
124. Marcuse 1975, p. 3
125. Marcuse 1975, p. 117
126. Marcuse 1975, p. 177
127. Marcuse 1975, p. 549
128. Campbell, Greated & Myers 2004, p. 39
129. Kartomi 1990, pp. 174–175
130. Rault 2000, p. 184
131. Rault 2000, p. 185
132. Rault 2000, p. 195
133. Organ built by M. P. Moller, 1940. USNA
Music Department (http://www.usna.edu/M
usic/Accessable/organ.html) Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20081106213802/
http://www.usna.edu/Music/Accessable/org
an.html) 6 November 2008 at the Wayback
Machine. United States Naval Academy.
Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
134. Bicknell, Stephen (1999). "The organ
case". In Thistlethwaite, Nicholas &
Webber, Geoffrey (Eds.), The Cambridge
Companion to the Organ, pp. 55–81.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0-521-57584-2
135. Howard, Rob (2003) An A to Z of the
Accordion and related instruments
Stockport: Robaccord Publications
ISBN 0-9546711-0-4
136. Fine, Larry. The Piano Book, 4th ed.
Massachusetts: Brookside Press, 2001.
ISBN 1-929145-01-2
137. Ripin (Ed) et al. Early Keyboard
Instruments. New Grove Musical
Instruments Series, 1989, PAPERMAC
138. Paradiso, JA. "Electronic music: new ways
to play". Spectrum IEEE, 34(2):18–33, Dec
1997.
139. "Glockenspiel: Construction" (http://vsl.co.a
t/en/70/3196/3204/3208/5760.vsl). Vienna
Symphonic Library. Archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20100430144752/http://vsl.
co.at/en/70/3196/3204/3208/5760.vsl) from
the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved
17 August 2009.
140. "Definition of instrumentalist" (https://www.
dictionary.com/browse/instrumentalist).
Dictionary.com. Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20210113100747/https://www.
dictionary.com/browse/instrumentalist)
from the original on 13 January 2021.
Retrieved 11 January 2021.
References
Baines, Anthony (1993), Brass Instruments: Their History and Development, Dover
Publications, ISBN 978-0-486-27574-1
Bicknell, Stephen (1999), The History of the English Organ, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN 978-0-521-65409-8
Blades, James (1992), Percussion Instruments and Their History (https://archive.org/details/
percussioninstru00jame), Bold Strummer Ltd, ISBN 978-0-933224-61-2
141. "Instrumental Musician" (https://alis.alberta.
ca/occinfo/occupations-in-alberta/occupati
on-profiles/instrumental-musician/).
Government of Alberta. Archived (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20210118114048/http
s://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations-in-al
berta/occupation-profiles/instrumental-mus
ician/) from the original on 18 January
2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
142. "Become an Instrumental Musician" (http
s://alison.com/occupation/instrumental-mu
sician). Alison. Archived (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20210417023314/https://alison.
com/occupation/instrumental-musician)
from the original on 17 April 2021.
Retrieved 19 February 2021.
143. Serna, Desi (2013). Guitar Theory For
Dummies: Book + Online Video & Audio
Instruction (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=5XMGAQAAQBAJ&q=instrumentalist
&pg=PA271). John Wiley & Sons. p. 271.
ISBN 9781118646939.
144. "Definition of Multi-Instrumentalist" (https://
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multi
-instrumentalist). Dictionary.com. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20210113165
351/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti
onary/multi-instrumentalist) from the
original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved
11 January 2021.
145. Baskerville, David (2006). Music Business
Handbook and Career Guide (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=LZxhW5ELHzoC
&q=instrumentalist&pg=PA469). SAGE
Publishing. pp. 469–471.
ISBN 9781412904384.
 Brown, Howard Mayer (2008), Sachs, Curt (http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/art
icle/grove/music/24256), Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, retrieved 5 June 2008
Campbell, Murray; Greated, Clive A.; Myers, Arnold (2004), Musical Instruments: History,
Technology, and Performance of Instruments of Western Music (https://archive.org/details/m
usicalinstrumen00dona), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-816504-0
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (30 December 2004), Archeologists discover ice age
dwellers' flute (https://web.archive.org/web/20100813200036/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/20
04/12/30/flute-prehistoric041230.html), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, archived from
the original (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2004/12/30/flute-prehistoric041230.html) on 13
August 2010, retrieved 7 February 2009
Chase, Philip G.; Nowell, April (August–October 1998), "Taphonomy of a Suggested Middle
Paleolithic Bone Flute from Slovenia", Current Anthropology, 39 (4): 549,
doi:10.1086/204771 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F204771), S2CID 144800210 (https://api.se
manticscholar.org/CorpusID:144800210)
Collinson, Francis M. (1975), The Bagpipe, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-7100-7913-8
de Schauensee, Maude (2002), Two Lyres from Ur, University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology, ISBN 978-0-924171-88-8
Grillet, Laurent (1901), Les ancetres du violon v.1, Paris
Kartomi, Margaret J. (1990), On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments,
University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-42548-1
Manning, Peter (2004), Electronic and Computer Music, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-
0-19-517085-6
Marcuse, Sibyl (1975), A Survey of Musical Instruments (https://archive.org/details/surveyof
musicali00marc), Harper & Row, ISBN 978-0-06-012776-3
Montagu, Jeremy (2007), Origins and Development of Musical Instruments, The Scarecrow
Press, ISBN 978-0-8108-5657-8
Moorey, P.R.S. (1977), "What Do We Know About the People Buried in the Royal
Cemetery?", Expedition, 20 (1): 24–40
Pinch, Revor; Trocco, Frank (2004), Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog
Synthesizer (https://archive.org/details/analogdaysinvent00trev), Harvard University Press,
ISBN 978-0-674-01617-0
Rault, Lucie (2000), Musical Instruments: A Worldwide Survey of Traditional Music-making,
Thames & Hudson Ltd, ISBN 978-0-500-51035-3
Remnant, Mary (1989), Musical Instruments: An Illustrated History from Antiquity to the
Present (https://archive.org/details/musicalinstrumen0000remn_h0w6), Batsford, ISBN 978-
0-7134-5169-6
Sachs, Curt (1940), The History of Musical Instruments, Dover Publications, ISBN 978-0-
486-45265-4
Slovenian Academy of Sciences (11 April 1997), "Early Music", Science, 276 (5310): 203–
205, doi:10.1126/science.276.5310.203g (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.276.5310.203
g), S2CID 220083771 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:220083771)

Further reading
Wade-Matthews, Max (2003). Musical Instruments: Illustrated Encyclopedia (https://archive.o
rg/details/musicillustrated00wade). Lorenz. ISBN 978-0-7548-1182-4.
Music Library Association (1974). Committee on Musical Instrument Collections. A Survey of
Musical Instrument Collections in the United States and Canada, conducted by a committee
of the Music Library Association, William Lichtenwanger, chairman & compiler, ed. and
produced by James W. Pruitt. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Music Library Association. xi, p. 137,
ISBN 0-914954-00-8
 West, M.L. (May 1994). "The Babylonian Musical Notation and the Hurrian Melodic Texts".
Music & Letters. 75 (2): 161–179. doi:10.1093/ml/75.2.161 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fml%2
F75.2.161).

External links
"Musical Instruments" (http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/m/musical-instruments). Furniture.
Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 1 July 2008.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musical_instrument&oldid=1068973710"

This page was last edited on 31 January 2022, at 02:08 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;

additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.