All Topics

Single-reed instrument

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Single-reed instrument

A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. Examples include saxophones, the clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
and some bagpipes. In a single-reed instrument the reed is attached to a mouthpiece

Mouthpiece (woodwind)

The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is that part of the instrument which is placed partly in the player's mouth. List of woodwind instruments#Single-reed, List of woodwind instruments#Capped, and List of woodwind instruments#Closed have mouthpieces while List of woodwind instruments#Exposed and List of woodwind instruments#Open do not....
that is blown on to vibrate the reed, producing the sound. By contrast, in a double reed

Double reed

A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two pieces of arundo donax vibrating against each other....
instrument there is no mouthpiece, and the two parts of the reed against one another. Examples include the oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"....
and the bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the Bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher....
.

The following is a list of clarinets and saxophones, relative to their range and comparable equivalent from the opposite family:

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Single-reed instrument'

Start a new discussion about 'Single-reed instrument'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. Examples include saxophones, the clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
and some bagpipes. In a single-reed instrument the reed is attached to a mouthpiece

Mouthpiece (woodwind)

The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is that part of the instrument which is placed partly in the player's mouth. List of woodwind instruments#Single-reed, List of woodwind instruments#Capped, and List of woodwind instruments#Closed have mouthpieces while List of woodwind instruments#Exposed and List of woodwind instruments#Open do not....
that is blown on to vibrate the reed, producing the sound. By contrast, in a double reed

Double reed

A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two pieces of arundo donax vibrating against each other....
instrument there is no mouthpiece, and the two parts of the reed against one another. Examples include the oboe

Oboe

The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"....
and the bassoon

Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the Bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher....
.

The following is a list of clarinets and saxophones, relative to their range and comparable equivalent from the opposite family:

Range Vocal range Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitch that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech pathology; particularly in relation to the study of tonal languages and certain types of vocal disorders....	Clarinet Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....	Saxophone Saxophone The saxophone is a conical-Bore transposing instrument musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a Single-reed instrument mouthpiece similar to the clarinet....
B? Soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....	Soprano Soprano clarinet The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family. They include the most common types of clarinets, and indeed are often referred to as simply "clarinets"....	Soprano Soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone was invented in 1840 and is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument. The soprano is the second in size of the saxophone family which consists, as generally accepted, of the sopranino saxophone, soprano, Alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, and contrabass saxophone....
E? Alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high", that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano....	Alto Alto clarinet The alto clarinet is a Woodwind Musical instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E, though instruments in F have been made....	Alto Alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by the Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax. The alto, with the Tenor saxophone, is the most common size of saxophone....
B? Tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....	Bass Bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet....	Tenor Tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the Alto saxophone, is the most common size of saxophone....
E? Baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of European classical music male voice type that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice....	Contra-alto Contra-alto clarinet The contra-alto clarinet is a large, low-sounding musical instrument of the clarinet family. The modern contra-alto clarinet is pitched in the key of EEb and is sometimes called the EEb contrabass clarinet....	Baritone Baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax....
B? Bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of European classical music male singing human voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to Grove Music Online, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second F below middle C to the E above middle C ....	Contrabass Contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet is the largest member of the clarinet family that has ever been in regular production or significant use. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instrument, sounding two octaves lower than the common B soprano clarinet and one octave lower than the B bass clarinet....	Bass Bass saxophone The bass saxophone is the second largest existing member of the saxophone family . It is similar in design to a baritone saxophone, but it is larger, with a longer loop near the mouthpiece....

Less well-known examples of single-reed instruments are listed below.

Lesser-known single-reeds

Alboka
Alboka

The alboka is a double hornpipe or clarinet native to the Basque music Basque Country .Although the alboka is a woodwind instrument, its name is derived from the Arabic language "al-b?q" ....
Hornpipe (musical instrument)
Hornpipe (musical instrument)

The Hornpipe is a class of woodwind instruments consisting of a single reed, a small diameter melody pipe with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn....