As a musician one of the most frequent questions that I receive is, “What instrument do you play?” When I answer, the look on the persons face is a face of confusion. “What’s a euphonium?” they ask. This occurs not only to me, but to every euphoniumist who is ever asked this very question. Although the word euphonium is foreign to most people, the instrument is not. The euphonium, with its beautiful rich tone is the chief tenor soloist in the military and concert band. The euphonium is a conical-bore, baritone voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Greek word euphonos. When separated, eu means well or good, and phonos means of good sound. Therefore euphonos means well sounding. In this paper I will discuss the history of the euphonium and its use in the world of music today.
The earliest ancestor of the euphonium as the tenor voice of the lip and reed family is most likely thought to be the serpent, which derives its name from its snake-like appearance. The serpent is the bass member of the cornett family. The Cornett is an early wind instrument that was popular from 1500-1650. It is not be confused with the brass cornet. The serpent was constructed in 1590 by Edme Guillaume, a canon at Auxerre. It was used in sacred music to back up low men's voices because the low frequency of their voices had trouble projecting. The serpent was constructed of wood, with newer models today being made of brass, fiberglass, or silver. It was played with a deep-cup mouthpiece either made of horn or ivory. When the Serpent was invented, there were not many ways to play brass instruments. Brass instruments could only be played with the lips alone, with the help of a slide, or with the use of finger holes. A brass instrument that relies on the players lips alone to determine the musical pitch makes it almost impossible to play all the notes of the scale. Brass instruments such as the modern trombone, which uses a slide, can produce the entire scale but must have the same diameter tubing throughout which results in a bright tone color. The Serpent plays all the notes of the scale, and it has the mellow tone color resulting from a conical or tapered bore. It can achieve this because of its finger holes.
Peyser, J. (1986) The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations. New York: Charles Scribner’s and Sons. Sadie, S. (1980) New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
The Native American flute is the third oldest known musical instrument in the world, with bone flutes dating back over 60,000 years. The first instrument found were drums, then varies whistle were made. Over time, the instrument evolved with many different materials and shapes. And these difference and changes reflect the culture of that time. Virtually, flutes were used all types of hardwoods and softwoods in history.
Next we come to a point in time where a great leap had to be made. Musicians had made positive steps forward in the way of pitch and time but of only one or two notes at a time. What was needed was an in instrument that gave players control of many pitches simultaneously. The mechanism ...
Dizzy was the soloist and showman of his own big band which performed from 1946 to 1950. In 1953, someone accidentally sat on his trumpet. Due to this, the bell on the instrument is now titled upward at a 45-degree angle. Dizzy discovered that this new shape to his beloved instrument created an improved sound quality. From then on, he always incorporated this shape into his new trumpets.
The Alto Saxophone is a single-reed musical instrument that was invented in 1846 by Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax. Adolphe Sax was born on November 6, 1814 in Dinant, Belgium. During his childhood, he studied the clarinet and flute at Brussel’s Conservatory. His father was a renowned maker of musical instruments during that time. Since Adolphe grew up with his father making instruments and studying the clarinet and the flute, it was obvious that he would end up following in his father’s footsteps. The first instrument that Adolphe decided to look at was the bass clarinet; he wanted to improve the tone of the instrument. He came up with a single-reed instrument constructed from metal that had a conical bore and overblew at the octave, which translates to the saxophone.
Willoughby, David. "Chapter 11." The World of Music. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 249-53. Print.
trumpet or flute. It was the right hand corner that filled in the material during the rhythmic
When trumpets were first used, they were set apart from anything that would suggest “music”. They were commonly used for signaling a message or instructions over a great distance. These signals would consist of a series of sounds or rhythmic patterns. Trumpets eventually would announce when royalty arrived such as noble employers, kings or rulers, and ambassadors. They were used for wartime maneuvers, peaceful periods, and tournaments. Ultimately when the trumpet’s ability to play more notes increased, they were finally considered an “art music”. Trumpets now played in ceremonies and celebrations as a part of musical groups. The uses for trumpets started out minimal but increased immensely with the ability to play more notes during the Renaissance
It is believed that the Irish brought to the region the fiddle and the pipes. It is believed that the first stringed instrument, the dulcimer was brought by the Germans, Norwegians, Swedish and French. The dulcimer became known as the 1“Hog Fiddle” or “Music Box”.
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
History shows that women were not as big of participants in music as men until later in the medieval era. This is due to many obstacles that faced women disabling them from singing, playing any instruments, or even composing music. Although barriers were present, many women and nuns were able to surpass them, and make use of their abilities and skills. In this paper, I will present the role of women as they interacted with polyphony, and as they became scribes, performers, composers, and patrons.
Music and the relationships of music have changed drastically in our society. The course of studies and the evaluations of the applications of the technology of music, the making and the listening of music have changed in the way we listen to music, the styles of music in our society and in the media. The importance of the technology in music today, has, over the past century been charted through the study of musical examples and through viewing how human values are reflected in this century's timely music. There are very many different types of music that are listened to. There are readings, writings, lectures and discussions on all the different types of music.