The orchestra is made up of four families of instruments. Strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion are the names of the families. This grouping of instruments is what makes the symphony orchestra different from other groups of instruments that play together like jazz combos or school bands. A modern symphony orchestra has a full strength of around 100 musicians. The number and kind of instruments that play each piece of music depends on what the composer wanted to hear.

The word "symphony" comes from two different words. The word "sym" means "together" and the word "phonos" means "sound". So a symphony orchestra plays sounds together! Click on this great website by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra where you can see the instruments, and actually hear them play!

String Family

The string family is made up of the violin (pictured here), viola, cello, double bass, and harp. The guitar is a member of the string family too, but you don't usually hear guitars in orchestras.

Woodwind Family

The Woodwind family includes the flute and piccolo, the oboe and English horn, the clarinet and bass clarinet, and the bassoon (pictured here) and contrabassoon. What a big family!

Brass Family

The Brass family includes the trumpet, French horn (pictured here), trombone, and tuba. There are many more Brass instruments that play in Bands. They include the Baritone horn, the Mellophone and the Sousaphone.

Percussion Family

The Percussion family includes all instruments you bang or hit. Pictured here are the timpani and the chimes. The Percussion family also includes the triangle, the snare drum, the xylophone, and lots of others. Some people consider the piano a percussion instrument, because the inside the piano there is a wooden hammer that hits the strings.