Meet the Instruments: Woodwind Family

Meet the Instruments: The Woodwind Family

The Woodwind Family includes flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and

saxophone. Flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon are used in an orchestra, but saxophone usually is not. Saxophone, as well as the other woodwinds, are used in a wind ensemble. 

All the woodwinds except the flute use a reed—a vibrating piece of soft wood—to create the sound. The clarinet and saxophone use single reeds; the bassoon and oboe use double reeds. The sound of the flute is produced by blowing across the hole near the end of the flute. All of the woodwind instruments use keys, not valves like the brass family.

To learn more about the woodwind family, click here.

To make a single reed instrument or blow across a bottle like you would to make a sound on a flute, click here.

To listen to this short podcast featuring Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and take a short quiz, click here.

To watch a video about the woodwind family, click here.

To learn more about woodwind instruments and their history, click here.


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