Musical Instruments & Music History

The piano was invented around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy. He called it the 'pianoforte' because unlike the harpsichord, it could play both soft (piano) and loud (forte) notes.

The oboe is a woodwind instrument, not a string instrument. The violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, and double bass, all played with a bow.

A standard guitar has 6 strings. The strings are typically tuned to E, A, D, G, B, and E from lowest to highest. Bass guitars, by contrast, usually have 4 strings.

Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the early 1840s and patented it in 1846. He designed it to bridge the gap between brass and woodwind instruments.

The trumpet is central to jazz music, with legends like Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis defining the genre. Armstrong's innovative style in the 1920s helped make jazz a worldwide phenomenon.

Timpani, also called kettledrums, are large copper drums that can be tuned to specific pitches. A standard orchestra typically uses four timpani, and they've been used in orchestras since the 17th century.

Pipe organs produce sound by pushing air through pipes that vary in size from a few inches to over 30 feet long. The largest pipe organ in the world, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, has over 33,000 pipes.

Stradivari crafted violins, violas, and cellos in Cremona, Italy, during the late 1600s and early 1700s. His instruments are considered the finest ever made, with some selling for over $15 million.

The harmonica is commonly called a mouth organ because the player blows and draws air through it. It became hugely popular in blues music, with players like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson.

The banjo evolved from African stringed instruments brought to America by enslaved people. It became central to American folk, bluegrass, and country music by the 19th century.

An orchestra has four main sections: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. The strings section is the largest, making up more than half of a typical orchestra.

Beethoven began losing his hearing in his late 20s and was almost completely deaf by 1814. He composed some of his greatest works, including his Ninth Symphony, while profoundly deaf.

Mozart began composing at age 5 and wrote his first symphony at age 8. Despite dying at just 35, he composed over 600 works, including 41 symphonies and 27 piano concertos.

A standard musical staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces, each representing a different musical pitch. The modern five-line staff became standard in the 16th century.

'The Nutcracker' premiered in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Its 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' features the celesta, a keyboard instrument Tchaikovsky specifically chose for its magical, bell-like sound.