Orchestration- Woodwinds

The method of blowing into the instrument to set the air column in motion either directly (flutes) or by the reed mechanism or mouthpiece (all other woodwinds).

Pitch variation or intonation.

By blowing with more force, compelling the vibrating air column to split fractionally

Touching a node on a string at the halfway mark, producing the first harmonic.

the octave

the twelfth

the clarinet

the flute and all conical pipe instruments

C5 (octave higher than written)

G3 (P4 lower than written)

C3 (8ve below written)

F3 (P5 below written)

A3 (m3 below written)

Eb3 (M6 below written)

Eb4 (sounds m3 above)

piccolo clarinet

Bb2 (M9 below written)

Bb3 (M2 below written)

Eb3 (M6 below written)

Bb2 (M9 below written)

• 1. Movement of the lips and jaw- most difficult because it can upset the embouchure (normal for clarinet and saxophone, seldom for oboe and bassoon)
• 2. Movement of the throat muscles (sometimes for flute)
• 3. Movement of the abdominal muscles (normal for oboe and bassoon)
• 4. Combination of movements of the throat and abdominal muscles (normal for flute)

A rapid pulsation of the air column

The player performs all the pitches within the slur in one breath and tongues only the first note. This is similar to a string player playing all the notes on one bow. This in-one-breath articulation is called legato playing (although not all in-one-breath playing is necessarily legato).

They are articulated separately.

You don't have to specify this normally as the wind player will naturally color the tone with vibrato; however, if you are returning back to normal after playing non-vibrato, the indication "con vibrato" or "normal" ("normale") should appear.

"Senza vibrato," "non vibrato," or "white tone."

A whirring sound produced either by a rapid roll or fluttering of the tongue, or by a prolonged guttural "r" rolled in the throat. The parts must be marked with three slashes through the stems or above whole notes, or with the words "flutter tongue" (abbr. Flt.) above the passage. It is not unlike the unmeasured tremolo for strings. The German term is Flatterzunge.

a²; a³

2. or 2^o; 1. or 1⁰

• 1. Multiphonics
• 2. Microtones
• 3. Glissandi
• 4. Slap tonguing
• 5. Key clicking
• 6. Whistle tones

• 1. Chalumeau register- E3 to F#4- deep and rich
• 2. "Throat tones"- G4 to Bb4- rather pale
• 3. Clarion register- B4 to C6- bright, incisive, expressive

Piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon

oboe, English horn, bassoon, contrabassoon

piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute

oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn, heckelphone, bassoon, contrabassoon

C, D, Eb, Bb, and A clarinets, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, basset horn

sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxes

The simultaneous sounding of more than one note, similar to double stops.

Creating special shadings of a pitch; some players can play these with trick fingerings or by changing their embouchure.

They are most successful on the clarinet and sax, but only in an upward direction. Downward glissandi are only effective between neighboring pitches.

It produces a perky, snappy, overarticulated attack. It is most effective on clarinets and saxophones but is also possible on the flute.

It can create a percussive, rhythmic effect; slapping down hard without any air blowing through the instrument can produce very faint pitches as well. It is much like a string player who puts his fingers down hard on the strings without using the bow. The opposite technique is blowing through the instrument without producing any pitches, which gives the sound of air blowing through a pipe.

C4 (sometimes B3 with foot) to C7; piccolo starts at D4

E3 to A6

Bb3 to G6 (English horn and oboe d'amore start B3)

Bb3 to G6

Bb1 to Eb5

Bb1 to Bb4

Do this separately.

mouthpiece; single reed

bocal or crook

a flared end of a wind instrument which affects the instrument's resonation

the foot joint; contains a few keys

the ligature

holds the reed against the aperture of the mouthpiece

pads

pressed by the fingers to cover an instrument's holes and change the pitch

a key on the clarinet used to play in the second register; raises all pitches by a twelfth

a conical bore

a cylindrical bore

occurs between Bb4 and B4; fingering goes from no keys depressed to all keys depressed (except the vent hole); coordinating this transition is difficult

the way notes are normally articulated; the tongue touches the roof of the mouth and immediately pulls back; creates a "te" sound

tonguing especially in fast passages; "te ke" is used, allows for more speed

similar to double tonguing; "te ke te" and "ke te ke" are used

when there's more than one way to play a note on an instrument?

pitches above the open C#5 on the flute; created by playing the pitch an octave below how it should sound and overblowing

to emphasize that a particular line or melody is the most important event occurring in the orchestral texture at that moment; each wind player is already given a separate part

gets more brilliant and powerful as it goes up in register

most effect from F4 to C6; loses its pungency the higher it goes; lower = stronger

sound gets thinner as it gets higher; the lowest 5th or 6th is the richest and most powerful

superb in all registers as a solo instrument; tends to be swallowed by other instruments especially in high registers; in its low register it is a strong and noble bass

ability to play easily in any register; playing extremely long phrases without pausing for a breath; playing below the written range (string players can do this with scordatura)