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15,000 BCE
Harp
Originating in Ancient Egypt, this is a stringed instrument in which the resonator or belly is perpendicular or nearly so to the plane of the strings -
5500 BCE
Drums
Originating in the Americas, this instrument is played with wooden sticks and hollow cylinders -
2000 BCE
Cymbals
Originating in Asia, this is a percussion instrument consisting of a circular flat or concave metal plate that is struck with a drumstick -
1700 BCE
Tambourine
Originating in Ancient Egypt, this is a shallow handheld drum, played by stroking or shaking the jingles to striking it sharply with the hand or stick -
1500 BCE
Trumpet
Originating in Ancient Egypt, this instrument is a long slender metal tube with three valves -
500 BCE
Maracas
Originating in West Africa, this is a hand percussion instrument usually played in pairs and common in Caribbean, Latin American and South American music -
800
Xylophone
Originating in Southeast Asia in the 9th century, this is a percussion instrument made of wooden bars with resonators underneath -
1388
Recorder
Originating in Germany, this is a wooden or plastic musical instrument in the shape of a pipe -
1500
Violin
Originating in Italy, This instrument has a hollow wooden body and four strings -
1550
Viola
Originating in Northern Italy, this is a stringed musical instrument, the tenor of the violin family -
Baroque period
Baroque is a western style of music, architecture, dance, painting, poetry and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century up until the 1750s. It used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep color, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. -
Bassoon
Originating in France, this is a woodwind instrument that produces sound in a low range using a double reed -
Oboe
Originating in France, this is an instrument in the shape of a long slender tube, widening out into a bell shape at the end. It originated in the mid 17th century. -
Cello
Originating in Northern Italy, this is a four string instrument, similar to a violin -
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Elisabeth Lammerhirt. Ambrosius was a string player employed by the town council and the ducal court of Eisenach. Bach started education in 1692 and did well, despite all of his absences. Nothing of his musical education is definitively known, though he may have picked up the rudiments of string playing from his father and also no doubt attended the Georgenkirche, where Johann Christoph Bach was organist. He died on July 28th, 1750. -
Clarinet
Originating in Germany, this instrument is a cylinder tube ending in a flared bell stage -
The Four Seasons
This composition is a part of the Baroque period and was composed by Antonio Vivaldi. It's one of his best known works and was composed from 1718-1720 and only published in 1725. -
Classical period
This was an era of classical music that lasted from roughly 1750 to the 1820s. It has more lighter, clearer, than Baroque music but has more varying use of musical form. It makes use of style galant which emphasizes light elegance in place of Baroque's dignified seriousness and impressive grandeur. -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
He was born to a family of good standing which included architects and bookbinders. His mother was born from a middle class family active in local administration. He had musical talent at a very young age, at 4 he was composing short pieces. Before he was 6, they took him to Munich to play at the bararian court and a few months later to Vienna to play. He died on December 5th, 1791. -
Ludwig van Beethoven
He was born into a family of musicians in Germany and by 11, he left school to take care of the family and by 18 he was the breadwinner. He later became deaf but this did not stop his ability to compose music. He's best known for many of his most famous pieces—including the Eroica Symphony (1805), Symphony No. 5 in C Minor (1808), Symphony No. 6 in F Major (1808), and Symphony No. 7 in A Major (1813). He died on March 26th, 1827. -
Romanticism
This was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It's purpose was to advocate for the importance of subjectivity, imagination, and appreciation of nature in society and culture during the age of enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution -
Frédéric Chopin
Born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, he was born near Warsaw, Duchy of Warsaw on March 1st, 1810. His father was a Frenchman from Lorraine who emigrated to Poland at the age of 16. 6 months after his birth, his family moved to Warsaw, where his father acquired a post teaching French at the Warsaw Lyceum. -
Für Elise
This composition is a part of the Classical period and was composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven. It is one of his most popular compositions. It was not published until 1867 when it was discovered 40 years after he had died. -
Frenchhorn
Originating in Germany, this instrument has 12 feet of narrow tubing wound into a circle -
Accordion
Originating in Berlin, this is a portable wind instrument having a large bellows for forcing air through -
Nocturnes, Op. 9
These are romantic era compositions composed by Frédéric Chopin between 1831 and 1832. These were his first published set of nocturnes, the second one being one of his most famous works. -
Saxophone
Originating in Paris, this instrument is a single reed woodwind and has a conical body -
Acoustic Guitar
Originating in Spain, this is an instrument played with strings and has a hollow body and long neck. -
Bass guitar
Originating in Washington, this is a musical instrument that produces tones in the low pitched range C2-C4 -
Bagpipe
Originating in Egypt, this is a wind instrument consisting of 2 or more single or double reed pipes the reeds being set in motion by wind fed by arm pressure or an animal skin