Saturday, October 17, 2009

How To Pick Your Musical Instrument

Playing a musical instrument for personal pleasure and release is a great way to go. You may be thinking about learning to play an instrument and wondering how to pick your musical instrument...one that will be most suitable for you.

Musical instruments, even electronic keyboards, will be an excellent investment. They come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges and are fun for both children and adults of any age to play. Music is a valuable resource for children to learn different sounds and find their rhythm.

By going over the history and the various types of musical instruments available, you may get a better feel for the instrument that would be most pleasing for you to learn to play. They can represent the dream of everyone to be a star.

Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world. Many 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.

Many instruments were used by the Egyptian culture before 2700 BC and bore striking similarity to those of Mesopotamia, leading historians to conclude that the civilizations must have been in contact with one another. Musical instruments such as zithers appear in Chinese literature written around 1100 BC and earlier.

Musical instruments can be grouped in five major classes: (1) stringed instruments, (2) wind instruments, (3) percussion instruments, (4) keyboard instruments, and (5) electronic instruments.

Instruments for producing musical sounds have long been classified as woodwinds, brass, percussion, or strings; to these must be added electrical and electronic instruments. Instruments such as the timpani (kettledrums) and xylophone are called percussion instruments because the sound is initiated by a blow.

Electronic instruments are more advanced musical instruments of our times and they produce music through electronic means such as keyboards, drums or guitars. Acoustic musical instruments are musical instruments that are capable of creating sounds entirely via acoustic means as opposed to by way of electronic means. While, digital instruments can talk to each other using a protocol called MIDI.

Comparing and organizing instruments based on their complexity is misleading, since advancements in musical instruments have sometimes reduced complexity. Common string instruments include the guitar, violin and piano, which is a musical instrument with 88 keys.

Instruments such as the celesta, pipe organ, accordion, and piano are usually put in a group called keyboard instruments, because the respective vibrating bars, pipes, reeds, and strings in these instruments are selected by use of keys in a keyboard.

String instruments are musical instruments that are played by plucking, strumming, picking, or bowing the strings. A typical string musical instrument is a guitar or mandolin and they generate sounds through plucking of the strings, which through vibration create what we call music.

Many believe that the The Drum is the Heart Beat of Music. Individuals enjoy drums as an instrument that is exciting and fun to play, but many music lovers truly believe that drums are the heart of music due to the way that they keep time and rhythm for the rest of the instruments.

Drummers have always held a certain mystique within the world of musicians. Drums depend on thickness and tension of the drumhead. Percussion instruments are musical instruments that are played by banging or shaking, like drums, marichi's or maracas.

Brass instruments include the trumpet, french horn, trombone and tuba. Brass Instruments are musical instruments, producing tones by vibration of the lips, and are not only made of brass metal but also of wood. While, a double bass is a very large string instrument. The earliest known double bass type of instrument dates from 1516.

Wind instruments include the flute, pan-pipes, pitch-pipes, mouth organs, oboe, clarinet and saxophone. Typical wind musical instruments are trumpets, flutes, clarinets and bagpipes. An early flute, which was found in China, was the ch'ie.

The Didgeridoo is a long, slightly conical wooden instrument, used traditionally by the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia. Other names for the Didgeridoo are Yirdaki, Kanbi, and Ihambilbilg - although at least 40 different Aboriginal names are commonly used for this instrument throughout Australia. Playing the Didgeridoo well is not an easy task but it really is a beautiful instrument and it has a great sound when played well.

Known as the oldest wind instrument in the world, the origins of the didge may go back as far as 40,000 years. Though only one "note" can be played with the didge (called a drone), overtones and vocal sounds from the player give it a rich sound and countless textures.

As you can see there are countless musical instruments to choose from. Hopefully, you now have more information that has helped you become aware of how to pick your musical instrument.


About the Author

Jackie Spivey is the Author of this Article. He is an artist who has a very creative, eclectic collection of music that is available for your listening pleasure. You can listen to and/or download the song, Let's Go Bye Yehe at JacSan Records.

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