鶹Լ

A cartoon of a girl playing a xylophone and a boy playing an electric guitar.

What is an orchestra?

An orchestra is a group of musicians. It includes lots of instruments and sometimes up to 100 players.

Instruments in the group or ensemble include:

  • Ones that you bow like a violin. This is called the string section.
  • Ones that buzz like a trumpet. This is called the brass section.
  • Ones that blow like the flute. This is called the woodwind section.
  • Ones that you hit like the bass drum. This is called the percussion section.
A cartoon of a girl playing a xylophone and a boy playing an electric guitar.
Back to top

Watch: Explore the instruments of the orchestra

Watch musicians from the 鶹Լ Philharmonic Orchestra play and talk about their different instruments.

Back to top

Glossary

Here are the meanings of some important words.

Musical ensemble - A music group that includes many players.
Instrument - An object used to make sounds.
Section - The orchestra has four sections of instruments, called families: string, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Notes - Each different sound is called a note.
Valves - These are like keys on a trumpet, that you press down for different sounds.

Back to top

Activity

Quiz

Back to top

Play Bitesize Primary games. game

Fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art and design, computing and modern languages.

Play Bitesize Primary games
Back to top