The only instrument that lives in the alto clef.

An octave below the viola.

Plucked, not bowed. Written on two staves like piano music; the pitch is changed by pedals or levers.

The little flute.

Sits a little lower than the flute.

Also called the English horn — but it is woodwind, not brass, and it is a close relative of the oboe.

The only single reed in the orchestra.

Also called the French horn.

Also called kettle drums. The pitch is changed with foot pedals while you play.

Upright metal tubes, struck with a small hammer.

Wooden bars laid out like a keyboard, usually played with hard beaters.

Bigger than the xylophone and softer in tone — soft beaters.

Metal bars instead of wooden ones.

Like a glockenspiel but softer. A motor inside makes the vibrato.

Looks like a small piano, but there are metal plates inside — a bell-like sound.

Also called the snare drum.

From Spain.

A large gong.

The S in SATB.

Mostly a solo voice — not one of the four choir parts.

The A in SATB.

The T in SATB. In open score it is written in the treble clef with a small 8 underneath — it sounds an octave lower than written.

Mostly a solo voice — not one of the four choir parts.

The B in SATB.

One thin blade of cane vibrating against the mouthpiece.

Two thin blades of cane vibrating against each other.

Every other woodwind instrument makes its sound with a reed. These two you blow across.

What is written on the page is not the note you hear. The note you hear is the sounding pitch, also called concert pitch.

Horn and cor anglais. Lower, not higher — this is the one everybody gets the wrong way round.

Trumpet and clarinet.

The other clarinet.

Only six of the instruments we have learned transpose: piccolo, double bass, clarinet, trumpet, horn, cor anglais. The rest sound as written.

The four choir parts. Mezzo-soprano and baritone are solo voices and are not in it.

One stave each. The tenor gets a treble clef with a small 8 below it and sounds an octave lower.

Soprano and alto share the treble stave; tenor and bass share the bass stave.

Strings and brass both use mutes, and both use the same two terms: with mutes, without mutes.