Organology and Musical Instruments

Human culture began with tools — including musical instruments.

In prehistoric times, people turned all kinds of objects into instruments while exploring their properties: reeds, shells, bones, branches, hollow tree trunks and animal skins, for example. By shaking, striking, blowing into and rubbing them, they began to create sounds. Over time, they attached meanings to these sounds, considered them magical and used them to cast spells. Towards the end of antiquity, these sounds began to be used artistically and became part of musical culture. Early examples can be found in the civilisations of China, Mesopotamia and Egypt.

We call tools that produce musical sounds musical instruments. Many cultures use the same word for them; the Turkish term “enstrüman” also comes from the German word for instrument. Besides being able to play, it is important to understand instruments and the science that studies them. What do these fields involve?

Instrumentation examines instruments' ranges, timbres, construction and pitches. If you play an instrument, you should certainly understand how it is built. This knowledge is very important for both composers and performers.

Organology is the scientific discipline that studies all the world's musical instruments in depth. It investigates, describes, identifies the characteristics of and classifies every kind of instrument. Let us look at how some instruments are classified.

Bowed string instruments, from smallest to largest: violin, viola, cello and double bass.

Bowed instruments also belong to the string family. However, because they form the foundation of the orchestra and have their own conventions, they are referred to separately as bowed strings.

Keyboard instruments: organ, piano, accordion, harpsichord and melodica.

Plucked string instruments: guitar, harp and bağlama.

Wind instruments are divided into two groups: woodwind and brass.

Woodwind instruments: flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon.

Brass instruments: horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba.

Percussion instruments can be classified according to many different criteria.

Percussion instruments by how sound is produced: hand cymbals, celesta, bells and gong.

Percussion instruments by musical function: timpani and xylophone.

Percussion instruments in everyday usage: drum kit and tambourine.

Percussion instruments by cultural tradition: cajón and timbal.

The instruments in this classification fall under the heading of orchestral instruments commonly used today.

Duygu Deniz Uşaklıgil
Rekor Sanat – Violin Teacher