Wind instrument

What it means

In a wind instrument the tone arises because a column of air inside a tube is set vibrating. How this excitation happens distinguishes the families: by an airstream broken at an edge as with flutes, by a vibrating single reed as with clarinet and saxophone, by a double reed as with oboe and bassoon, or by the vibrating lips of the player as with all brass instruments. The pitch depends on the effective length of the air column and on which natural note of this length is excited.

Musical use

From the constructive principle follow the musical peculiarities. Tone holes and keys shorten the air column step by step, valves and slides switch in additional tube length; both produce the chromatic scale by different routes. Because every note uses breath, wind music articulates itself by nature into phrases, and composers reckon with breathing places as self-evidently as with bow changes for strings. Many wind instruments are notated transposed, which unifies their fingering: a B♭ clarinet reads the same fingerings as an A clarinet, although something different sounds. The sound covers a large span, from the soft flute tone to the sharp trumpet fanfare.

Performance practice

The basis of every wind instrument is breath control: breathe in deeply without raising the shoulders, breathe out evenly with support from the abdominal muscles. Practise long notes daily, for on them embouchure, air and intonation show themselves at once. Plan breathing places deliberately and note them in the music, instead of breathing when the air runs out. Warm the instrument up before playing, because the tuning depends on the temperature of the air column. Keep reeds, pads or valves maintained; a large part of all response problems has mechanical, not playing, causes.

Remember that transposing notation can cause confusion in ensemble playing: whoever compares a passage with another instrument must have the sounding pitch in mind. Note it at tricky places. Check how intonation and response change with the loudness, for on most wind instruments the pitch rises in forte and sinks in piano. Keep reeds, pads and valves maintained and carry out a short check before every rehearsal, because mechanical faults are easily taken for playing mistakes.