Instruments of the Orchestra
A symphony orchestra has four families of instruments: strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass and harp), woodwind (piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon), brass (trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba) and percussion (timpani, drums, cymbals, xylophone and more). A full orchestra has about 70 to 100 players, and the strings make up more than half.
Updated · By the Classfern Music Department
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses US words and grades (measure, half step, elementary school); the UK version uses bar, semitone and Key Stages. · UK version of this page
Key facts
- 4 families: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.
- A full symphony orchestra has about 70 to 100 players.
- Strings are the biggest family: about 60 players in a large orchestra.
- Lowest to highest strings: double bass, cello, viola, violin.
- The orchestra tunes to an A played by the oboe.
What are the families of instruments in an orchestra?
The orchestra has four families of instruments. Strings are played with a bow or plucked. Woodwind instruments are blown across an edge or through a reed. Brass players buzz their lips into a mouthpiece, and percussion instruments are hit, shaken or scraped. Each family has high and low members.
| Instrument | Family | Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Violin | Strings | Highest string; 4 strings tuned G D A E; about 30 in a full orchestra (first and second violins) |
| Viola | Strings | A little bigger and lower than the violin; strings C G D A; about 12 |
| Cello | Strings | Played sitting down, held between the knees; strings C G D A; about 10 |
| Double bass | Strings | Lowest and biggest string instrument; strings E A D G; about 8 |
| Harp | Strings | 47 strings and 7 pedals; plucked; usually 1 or 2 |
| Piccolo | Woodwind | Half the size of the flute and an octave higher |
| Flute | Woodwind | No reed: you blow across a hole; usually 2 or 3 |
| Oboe | Woodwind | Double reed; plays the A that the orchestra tunes to; usually 2 or 3 |
| Clarinet | Woodwind | Single reed; from very low and dark to high and bright; usually 2 or 3 |
| Bassoon | Woodwind | Double reed; the bass of the woodwind, about 2.5 m of tube folded up; usually 2 or 3 |
| Trumpet | Brass | Highest brass; 3 valves; about 1.5 m of tubing; usually 2 to 4 |
| French horn | Brass | Coiled tube about 3.7 m long; the player’s hand sits inside the bell; usually 4 |
| Trombone | Brass | Changes notes with a slide, not valves; usually 3 |
| Tuba | Brass | Lowest brass; about 5.5 m of tubing on a large tuba; usually 1 |
| Timpani | Percussion | Large kettle drums tuned to exact notes with pedals; usually 4 drums, 1 player |
| Snare drum | Percussion | Wires under the drum give a crisp, rattling sound |
| Bass drum | Percussion | The biggest drum: deep booms and rumbles |
| Cymbals | Percussion | Pairs of brass plates crashed together, or one hung and struck |
| Xylophone | Percussion | Wooden bars struck with beaters; tuned like a piano keyboard |
| Glockenspiel | Percussion | Metal bars: a bright, bell-like sound |
Some instruments join only when a piece needs them: the piano, celesta, saxophone, contrabassoon, cor anglais (English horn) and bass clarinet. The piano is often counted with percussion, because its strings are struck by hammers.
Orchestra sound explorer
Press an instrument to hear how high or low it plays. String instruments play their four open strings, lowest first. The sounds are simple tones made in your browser to show how high or low each instrument plays. They are not recordings of real instruments.
Strings
Woodwind
Brass
Percussion
Sounds are made in your browser. This tool never uses the microphone, and nothing is recorded, saved or sent.
How many instruments are in an orchestra?
A full symphony orchestra has about 70 to 100 players. A large one might have 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses, which is 60 strings, plus about 12 woodwind, 11 brass, a timpanist, 2 to 4 percussionists and a harp. A chamber orchestra is much smaller, often under 40.
In Mozart’s time, in the 1780s, an orchestra often had only 30 to 40 players. Orchestras grew in the Romantic period, when composers such as Tchaikovsky added more brass and percussion. See how that happened on the music history timeline.
What is the orchestra seating chart?
In a common orchestra seating chart, the strings sit at the front in a fan around the conductor: first violins on the left, then second violins, violas and cellos, with double basses behind the cellos. The woodwind sit in the middle, the brass behind them, and the timpani and percussion at the back.
- Front, left to right: first violins, second violins, violas, cellos.
- Behind the cellos: double basses. Far left: harp.
- Middle: flutes and oboes, with clarinets and bassoons behind.
- Behind the woodwind: French horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba.
- Back: timpani and the other percussion.
The loudest instruments sit furthest back so they do not drown out the strings. The leader of the first violins (called the concertmaster) sits nearest the conductor.
What musical instruments did the Tudors play?
Tudor musicians in England (1485–1603) played the lute, viol, recorder, sackbut, shawm, crumhorn, pipe and tabor, and virginals. Many are the ancestors of today’s orchestra: the sackbut became the trombone and the shawm led to the oboe. King Henry VIII played the lute and wrote songs.
| Tudor instrument | What it is | Its modern relative |
|---|---|---|
| Lute | Plucked strings, pear-shaped body; the most popular Tudor instrument | Guitar |
| Viol | Bowed strings, played upright on the knee or between the legs, with frets | Cello and violin family |
| Recorder | Wooden pipe with finger holes | Recorder (still played today) |
| Sackbut | Brass with a slide | Trombone |
| Shawm | Loud double-reed pipe used outdoors | Oboe |
| Crumhorn | Curved double-reed pipe with a buzzing sound | – |
| Pipe and tabor | A three-hole pipe played with one hand and a small drum with the other | Drum and whistle |
| Virginals | A small keyboard whose strings are plucked | Harpsichord, then piano |
Henry VIII collected instruments. The list of his belongings made after he died in 1547 includes more than 20 recorders, 19 viols, two clavichords and four sets of bagpipes. You can hear a Tudor-era song, Greensleeves, on the music history timeline. It was once said to be by Henry VIII, but historians now think it comes from later, in Elizabeth I’s reign.
Quick quiz: instruments of the orchestra
Marked by Classfern 6 multiple-choice questions on the Classfern lesson engine. Your answers stay on this device.
Hear how a composer gives each orchestra family a character in Peter and the Wolf and The Carnival of the Animals. Classfern’s free instrument tools on lessonplanner.info include the violin play-along, the flute fingering chart and the trumpet and trombone explorers.
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