• Instruments and Composition: How do the instruments that composers and songwriters use affect the way they write music? How do instruments restrict compositional decisions? Consider ways that instruments affect elements of music including pitch collections, tuning systems, chordal and melodic decisions, texture, phrasing, etc. Think about what kinds of movements are more natural on different instruments (playing the same chord change on a piano vs. a guitar). Think about your own instrument and some of the limitations and advantages compared to others. 

  • • If you need an example, there's a video in the "Want to Learn More?" section below that explores this topic from the perspective of guitar players in popular music. 

    • In what ways does technology play a role in modern instrumentation? How has it expanded possibilities for composers and performers?

• A Musical Offering: The Musical Offering is a collection of keyboard pieces written by J. S. Bach in 1747. In 1935, Anton Webern arranged the 6-Part Ricercare from the piece for orchestra. Although his version of Bach's Ricercare is a note-for-note transcription of the original, the orchestration features a 20th-century technique referred to as Klangfarbenmelodie (or "tone color melody") in which timbre is used as as melodic compositional parameter. The entrance of each instrument also features a series of palindromes. 

  • • Listen to mm. 1–56 of both Bach's and Webern's version with the score. (Bach: Score & Youtube, Webern: Score & Youtube). 

    • A timbral analysis of this section by Mark Gotham is provided here, showing the instrumental palindromes for each section. 

    • Discussion: How does the difference in orchestration change the way you hear the piece? How is timbre and instrumentation used like melody? Do you like Webern's version? Can you hear the palindromes? 

• Notable Instruments: Check out the playlist of examples in the Anthology (see the section "Pieces for Discussing Instrumentation"). These are examples feature interesting or special instruments or combinations great for classroom discussion. 

Activities

• Name that Instrument:  Test your knowledge of instruments. Have your instructor or a group leader flip through the Quizlet flashcards here. 

  • • Click the gear icon in the bottom right. Change the settings to "Answer with: English" to see the pictures first, then click the shuffle icon on the bottom left of the card to get a nice variety of instruments. 

    • Keep track of your score as you go to compete with your classmates and see who can identify the most instruments correctly. If you run across an instrument you don't recognize, try to find a Youtube video of a performer playing that instrument to hear what it sounds like. 

• Categorizing Instruments: Check out the handout here with instruments from around the world being played by artists. Work individually or in groups and attempt to categorize each instrument in one of the 5 Sachs-Hornbostel instrumental categories. Be prepared to provide your reasoning. If you're not sure based on the picture, look up more information about the instrument or try to find a YouTube video. 

• Instrumentation in Ensembles: As a class or in groups, try to think of as many common ensemble types as you can and name the instruments that commonly make up those ensembles. As an example, can you name the instruments that are typically found in a Western orchestra, marching band, woodwind quintet, string quartet, or Pierrot ensemble? 

  • • What instruments are commonly used in popular music? How has that changed over time and how does it vary across different styles of popular music? Can you think of any bands or songs that use unusual instrumentation? Listen to a few excerpts from these songs together and talk about how the instrumentation changes the way you hear the music. 

    • Can you name any non-Western ensemble types? Try looking up a few ensembles, listening to the sounds of the instruments, and categorizing them according to the Sachs-Hornbostel system.