Reed instruments. Reed musical instruments. Accordion Which instruments are wind instruments?

As you can see, the classification of instruments into types and families is suggested by the features of their design and method of sound production. If whistling ones have a whistle at their core, then reed ones have special plates - “reeds”, double or single. We made just such a squeaker in the form of a double tongue in a few seconds on a dandelion stem. In folk wind instruments, birch bark and thin plates made of reeds, goose feathers or bamboo, and some other thin materials that produce sound, such as plastic, can be used as a piston.

The blown-in stream of air encounters a thin tongue on its way and tends to either bend it or bend it, depending on its position. The elastic tongue tends to take its original position. Vibration occurs, the tongue sounds, and the column of air located in the bell resonates, amplifying this sound. The typical and most common instrument of this family is the pity.

Zhaleika

In a short story from the book “Above Isterma,” the poet V. Bokov describes his meeting with a shepherd in his homeland in the village.

“...On the elderberry bush, under which the fire was glowing, I saw a pitiful thing.

Play!

He took the pity and started playing. There was something wild, melancholy, primitive in the melody.

Across the river, on the field of the Marat collective farm, a tall figure of a shepherd rose. Wild, melancholy sounds poured out from there too. The two people talked to each other for a long time.

“Oh, what a heartfelt conversation we had,” said “my” shepherd after finishing the game.”

Everything in this unpretentious story is figurative and true! And the fact that the shepherds played soulfully, sadly, and that this music “smells of the forest.”

Of course, the name of the instrument comes from the root of the words “to regret”, “pity”. The sound of pity is tart, sharp, but pitiful, crying, due to noticeable vibration (trembling).

The zhaleika is a wooden (willow, elderberry, reed) or (in our time) metal tube from 140 to 160 mm in length. A squeak is inserted into its upper end. A natural cow horn or birch bark bell is placed on the lower end as a resonator. It is because of this horn or bell that in some areas the pity is incorrectly called a horn. The tongue (pischik) in old zhaleks was cut directly on the main tube. Later, they began to make a special mouthpiece for the squeaker, which is inserted into the tube. In this case, if the squeaker is damaged, it is easy to replace it with a new one. From 3 to 6 holes are cut on the tube. They are applied and used in the same way as on a pipe. Depending on the size of the penny, there can be different tunings, which is very important in ensemble and orchestral playing on them.

The figure shows the dimensions of the pity in the G major scale with a lowered VII degree, that is, F instead of F sharp.

This instrument was also designed by N. Z. Kudryashov and has a number of innovations compared to the ancient folk pity. The main one is the method of attaching the pika. It should be thin (a few tenths of a millimeter, like a razor blade), even and smooth. Its approximate dimensions are indicated. The pischik is attached to a special voice tube (mouthpiece), with one open end inserted into the main tube of the pity. The mouthpiece is made of wood. Its upper end is deaf, and along the mouthpiece itself a rectangular narrow cut is made, which should be 2-2.5 mm narrower than the width of the squeak. The internal cavity of the tube should be visible through this cut. The length of the cut must exactly match the length of the squeak. The cut goes from the upper end of the instrument and ends with a rectangular threshold, into which the squeak placed on it will rest.

The figure shows that in the very top part the mouthpiece is cut with a slight rounding, which creates a squeak between it and the squeak lying on top. small area, in which the pika can oscillate.

Usually the peep was tied with threads near the entrance of the mouthpiece to the main tube. Kudryashov suggested attaching it using a ring made from a polyvinyl chloride insulating tube (cambric), which every electrician has on hand. The progressiveness of this innovation lies not so much in the reliability and cleanliness of the fastening itself, but in another, more important issue. In order for the pitiful to have a well-defined set tuning, the squeak by itself, without a resonator, must produce the main sound of this tuning (for example, G in G major). Previously, you had to struggle with its size for a long time to get the desired tone. Now, to do this, it is enough to change the size of the oscillating end of the squeaker by moving the tubular ring, and its structure will become different. Such changes can be made within a quart. This means that using the found simple device not only does it make it easier to find the required tone, but it also becomes possible to replace it, and therefore, if necessary, change the entire structure of the pitty. This is a lot for modern musical practice.

Before playing, the peep needs to be soaked with saliva every time, otherwise it will sound bad and hoarse. You need to blow into the pity with some effort. The greater this effort, the higher its tuning can rise (within 1/2-1/4 tone), and vice versa. Folk performers use this to align their tuning when playing or to harmonize with singers.

When fastening individual parts of the sting, we recommend using modern (colored) insulating tape. With its help, it is easy to thicken the ends of articulated tubes, seal cracks, etc. The horn is glued technical glue type BF 6, super cement, etc. The mouthpiece is best secured by friction. In order not to accidentally damage the peep, a special cap made of a reed, wooden or cardboard tube is put on the mouthpiece.

Paired or double stingers are known and still exist, tuned and used in the same way as paired pipes. Unlike pipes, paired pipes are fastened together and united by one bell.

Bagpipes

Why are you playing bagpipes? Don't worry!

Don’t we still use these and similar expressions today? Do they have anything in common with the world famous musical instrument?

The bagpipe is an air reservoir, the so-called bellows, made of whole goat or calf skin, with pipes inserted into it. One tube is inserted into the hole from the front pair of legs; it is intended for air injection and is equipped check valve. A playing tube with a squeaker is inserted into another hole; in some places - a pipe-type pika; in Russia, as a rule, they are kind of pathetic. This playing tube has finger holes cut into it. The leading melody is performed on it. One or two tubes are inserted into the neck hole, each producing just one, low, drawn-out sound, tuned to an octave, fourth or fifth to the main scale level of the melodic tube. These drawn-out sounds are called bourdons and sound continuously, like a harmonic background to the melody. It was precisely the monotonous sound of the bourdons that gave reason to compare the bagpipes with all the red tape and delay in business.

Russian name The instrument is believed to have originated from the name of the place of its appearance - Volyn - a region located along the upper reaches of the Western Bug and was part of Kievan Rus. This region was inhabited by Volynians, East Slavic tribe, who lived there in the 9th-11th centuries. However, in Ukraine itself, Moldova and Poland, this instrument is called a goat (based on the origin of the fur), in Belarus and some Russian regions - a duda.

Bagpipes were spread virtually all over the world. IN different countries at different nations it had its own individual design features, but the principle of its design was the same everywhere. Even most of the local names of bagpipes contain the same words: “bag” and “buzz”, “play”. Compare, for example, English name bagpipes bagpipe (bag - bag, pipe - game, pipe), German Sackpfeife (zack - bag, pfeife - pipe), French cornemuse (ancient pipe), Dutch dudelsack (pipe bag), etc.

When playing, the bagpipes are held in front of you, or more often under the arm. The bellows is filled with air through the valve tube, and under its pressure the squeakers begin to sound. The sound of the bagpipe is continuous: during breaks in the air pumping, the bagpiper presses the bellows to the body, and the sound continues.

The first information about bagpipes in Russia dates back to the 16th-17th centuries. At that time it was a very common instrument; it is repeatedly mentioned in folk songs, choruses, and fairy tales.

The instrument was especially popular among buffoons, bear handlers and court musicians of the Amusement Chamber. Later - among wandering poor musicians. By the beginning of the 20th century, this instrument was gradually replaced from practice by other, less complex and labor-intensive designs. However, for example, in Scotland the bagpipes are cultivated as a national relic and are even included in military bands. In our country, individual examples of bagpipes can be seen, perhaps, only in museums of musical culture.

Surna

The history of music knows cases of a wide variety of mutual influences and interpenetration of instruments of different peoples, especially those neighboring in geographically. Some instruments, such as strings, were born and developed in different parts light independently of each other. Others, on the contrary, were undoubtedly borrowed from peoples with more ancient civilization. It is precisely this kind of instrument that includes the surna, which is close to the Transcaucasian wind instrument zurna in name, structure, and sound.

Surna, sometimes called antimony or colza, was usually made from elm (a southern type of wood, very dense and strong). This tool is regularly mentioned in written historical monuments, starting from the 13th century, but no reliable descriptions, drawings, and especially authentic copies of it have been preserved. If we proceed from the analogy of the surna with the eastern zurna, which is still common among the peoples inhabiting the Caucasus and adjacent areas, then this is a wooden tube with several playing holes, a small conical bell and a double, less often single, reed peep. Some folk researchers musical instruments claim that the surna is an embouchure-reed instrument (see the next chapter), and possibly also an embouchure-reed instrument. 6 in particular, on the Russian surna shown in the figure (instrument Terek Cossacks) were played in two ways: both on the ambu-shurny and as on the reed.

The pity-type tongue was located in the mouthpiece in a special tube. The sound of the surna is sharp and nasal. It was used either by buffoons in their wild, daring dances, or in military use, until the reign of Peter I, who replaced all national instruments in military orchestras with Western, brass ones. Gradually, the surna almost fell out of use, perhaps partly because it was constantly mentioned in royal and church decrees among those prohibited, and the people were forced to replace it with other instruments similar to it, but with different names. The keychain that still exists today is very similar to the surna.

Keychain

This is one of the softest and most harmonious in timbre of the reed family of instruments. It is like an intermediate variety of zhaleika and surna. Its tube is almost straight, gradually widening towards a cone-shaped bell. Double reed, like an oboe. Hence the proximity of the sound to the latter. Essentially, this is a small oboe of folk origin. In all other respects (in terms of the number of holes, structure, technical and dynamic capabilities) the keychain is akin to its predecessors.

It is believed that the keychain appeared in the Tver province and received such an obscure name from the local name for the willow - bredina, from which it was made.

The figure shows the dimensions of the soprano G major keychain. It was played by a former artist of the choir orchestra. Pyatnitsky V. Voronkov. The body of his instrument is turned to lathe made of boxwood and consists of two halves inserted into one another. Voronkov used ordinary oboe reeds in his practice, which he made himself or bought in music stores. The sound of his instrument is gentle and beautiful in lingering melodies, sharp and playful in fast, dancing ones. To change the tuning, special rings or wax are used (see the chapter on whistling instruments).

Music surrounds us since childhood. And then we have the first musical instruments. Do you remember your first drum or tambourine? And a shiny metallophone, the records of which had to be knocked wooden stick? What about pipes with holes in the side? With some skill it was even possible to play simple melodies on them.

Toy instruments are the first step into the world of real music. Now you can buy a variety of musical toys: from simple drums and harmonicas to almost real pianos and synthesizers. Do you think these are just toys? Not at all: in preparatory classes music schools Whole noise orchestras are made from such toys, in which kids selflessly blow pipes, knock on drums and tambourines, spur the rhythm with maracas and play their first songs on the xylophone... And this is their first real step into the world of music.

Types of musical instruments

The world of music has its own order and classification. Tools are divided into large groups: strings, keyboards, percussion, winds, and also reed. Which of them appeared earlier and which later is now difficult to say for sure. But already the ancient people who shot from a bow noticed that a tense bowstring sounds, reed tubes, when blown into them, make whistling sounds, and it is convenient to beat the rhythm on any surface with all available means. These objects became the progenitors of string, wind and percussion instruments, known already in Ancient Greece. Reed ones appeared just as long ago, but keyboards were invented a little later. Let's look at these main groups.

Brass

In wind instruments, sound is produced by vibrations of a column of air enclosed inside a tube. The greater the volume of air, the lower the sound it produces.

Wind instruments are divided into two large groups: wooden And copper. Wooden - flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, alpine horn... - are a straight tube with side holes. By closing or opening the holes with their fingers, the musician can shorten the column of air and change the pitch of the sound. Modern instruments often made from materials other than wood, but traditionally they are called wooden.

Copper wind instruments set the tone for any orchestra, from brass to symphony. Trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba, helicon, a whole family of saxhorns (baritone, tenor, alto) are typical representatives of this loudest group of instruments. Later, the saxophone appeared - the king of jazz.

The pitch of the sound in brass instruments changes due to the force of the air blown and the position of the lips. Without additional valves, such a pipe can produce only a limited number of sounds - a natural scale. To expand the range of sound and the ability to hit all sounds, a system of valves was invented - valves that change the height of the air column (like side holes on wooden ones). Too long copper pipes, unlike wooden ones, can be rolled up, giving them a more compact shape. Horn, tuba, helicon are examples of rolled pipes.

Strings

The bow string can be considered a prototype string instruments- one of the most important groups of any orchestra. The sound here is produced by a vibrating string. To amplify the sound, strings began to be pulled over a hollow body - this is how the lute and mandolin, cymbals, harp were born... and the guitar that we know well.

The string group is divided into two main subgroups: bowed And plucked tools. Bowed violins include all types of violins: violins, violas, cellos and huge double basses. The sound from them is extracted with a bow, which is drawn along the stretched strings. But for plucked bows, a bow is not needed: the musician plucks the string with his fingers, causing it to vibrate. Guitar, balalaika, lute are plucked instruments. Just like the beautiful harp, which makes such gentle cooing sounds. But is the double bass a bowed or plucked instrument? Formally, it belongs to the bowed instrument, but often, especially in jazz, it is played with plucked strings.

Keyboards

If the fingers striking the strings are replaced with hammers, and the hammers are set in motion using keys, the result will be keyboards tools. The first keyboards - clavichords and harpsichords- appeared in the Middle Ages. They sounded quite quietly, but very tender and romantic. And at the beginning of the 18th century they invented piano- an instrument that could be played both loudly (forte) and quietly (piano). The long name is usually shortened to the more familiar "piano". The older brother of the piano - what's up, the brother is the king! - that’s what it’s called: piano. This is no longer an instrument for small apartments, but for concert halls.

The keyboard includes the largest one - and one of the most ancient! - musical instruments: organ. This is no longer a percussion keyboard, like a piano and grand piano, but keyboard and wind instrument: not the musician's lungs, but a blowing machine that creates a flow of air into a system of tubes. This huge system is controlled by a complex control panel, which has everything: from a manual (that is, manual) keyboard to pedals and register switches. And how could it be otherwise: organs consist of tens of thousands of individual tubes of the most different sizes! But their range is enormous: each tube can sound only one note, but when there are thousands of them...

Drums

The oldest musical instruments were drums. It was the tapping of rhythm that was the first prehistoric music. The sound can be produced by a stretched membrane (drum, tambourine, oriental darbuka...) or the body of the instrument itself: triangles, cymbals, gongs, castanets and other knockers and rattles. A special group consists of percussion instruments that produce a sound of a certain pitch: timpani, bells, xylophones. You can already play a melody on them. Percussion ensembles consisting only of percussion instruments stage entire concerts!

Reed

Is there any other way to extract sound? Can. If one end of a plate made of wood or metal is fixed, and the other is left free and made to vibrate, then we get simplest tongue- the basis of reed instruments. If there is only one tongue, we get Jew's harp. Reeds include harmonicas, button accordions, accordions and their miniature model - harmonica.

harmonica

You can see keys on the button accordion and accordion, so they are considered both keyboard and reed. Some wind instruments are also reeded: for example, in the already familiar clarinet and bassoon, the reed is hidden inside the pipe. Therefore, the division of tools into these types is arbitrary: there are many tools mixed type.

In the 20th century, the friendly musical family was replenished with another large family: electronic instruments. The sound in them is created artificially using electronic circuits, and the first example was the legendary theremin, created back in 1919. Electronic synthesizers can imitate the sound of any instrument and even... play themselves. If, of course, someone draws up a program. :)

Dividing instruments into these groups is just one way of classification. There are many others: for example, the Chinese grouped tools depending on the material from which they were made: wood, metal, silk and even stone... Methods of classification are not so important. It is much more important to be able to recognize tools and appearance, and by sound. This is what we will learn.

Reed instruments are a family of musical instruments that are characterized by sound production using a reed - a flexible vibrating plate small sizes.

Sheng - the first reed instrument

The first reed musical instrument is supposedly about 2 thousand years old. We are talking about an ancient Chinese harmonica called “sheng”. In countries Ancient East it was considered a sacred instrument and was used during religious activities. The sheng has existed for several millennia and was one of the most popular instruments in Burma, Laos and Tibet. It was also known in Russia, where it first arrived in the 10th century. Information has been preserved confirming that in the mid-18th century, the courtiers of the Russian Tsar were fond of playing the shen.

Structurally, the shen was a small round box with bamboo tubes inserted around its circumference, which were equipped with a plate with a tongue at the lower edge. Sheng produced sounds in twelve keys and was easy to use.

Hand accordion

Not all reed musical instruments blow air through the mouth; bellows can perform this role. They were invented 1.5 thousand years BC. in Ancient Greece or Egypt, only they were used not for making sound, but for fanning a fire.

The first hand-made one was made in 1797 by František Kiršnik. He made his living tuning clavichords and organs. One day, the famous scientist Christian Kratzenstein invited him to his workshop to conduct a series of experiments, as a result of which a new musical design was invented - reed strips. Using this design, Frantisek assembles a small organ and takes it to St. Petersburg.

The manual harmonica has taken root in Russia. The first production of such harmonics was opened in Tula. It was considered a romantic instrument due to its gentle and expressive sound and accompanied folk songs well.

Invention of the mouth and hand harmonica

Harmonicas in recent years are experiencing a new surge in popularity. And this musical instrument was invented by the German Frederick Bushman in 1821, giving him beautiful name"Aura". In his harmonica, the reeds, set in motion by the exhalation of the musician, could freely slip into the holes of the frame and make sounds. There are two types of harmonicas of this type - chromatic and diatonic.

A year later, Bushman invented another type of reed musical instrument - a small hand harmonica. He simply equipped the tuning fork, which was used to tune organs, with leather bellows.

Accordion

The accordion is an improved version of the small hand harmonica Bushman. The date of birth of the accordion is considered to be 1829, when a new type of harmonica with accompaniment on the left keyboard was first introduced in Vienna. Each of the five buttons of this harmonica produced one chord when compressed and another when the bellows was stretched. This type of harmonica with chord accompaniment is called accordions.

Viennese and German type harmonics

Harmonics are usually divided into two types, depending on the country where they are manufactured, and, accordingly, design features. From a sound point of view, they have no fundamental differences.

Thus, German diatonic harmonicas are characterized by placing the melody valves on the right cover, and the keyboard on the extended neck on the left. They were otherwise called two- or four-plank, since there were two planks in each row.

The Viennese harmonicas had a different arrangement of valves and keyboard: the valves were on the right cover, and the left keyboard was already on the accompaniment cover. These harmonics are otherwise called two-row harmonics.

A list of them will be given in this article. It also contains information about the types of wind instruments and the principle of extracting sound from them.

Wind instruments

These are pipes that can be made of wood, metal or any other material. They have different shape and produce musical sounds of different timbres, which are produced through air flow. The timbre of the “voice” of a wind instrument depends on its size. The larger it is, the more air passes through it, which makes its vibration frequency lower and the sound produced low.

There are two ways to change the output of a given type of instrument:

• adjusting the air volume with your fingers, using rockers, valves, valves, and so on, depending on the type of tool;
• increasing the force of blowing an air column into the pipe.

The sound depends entirely on the flow of air, hence the name - wind instruments. A list of them will be given below.

Varieties of wind instruments

There are two main types - copper and wood. Initially, they were classified in this way depending on the material from which they were made. Nowadays, the type of instrument largely depends on the way the sound is extracted from it. For example, the flute is considered a woodwind instrument. Moreover, it can be made of wood, metal or glass. The saxophone is always produced only in metal, but belongs to the woodwind class. Copper tools can be made from various metals: copper, silver, brass and so on. There is a special variety - keyboard wind instruments. The list of them is not so long. These include harmonium, organ, accordion, melodica, button accordion. Air enters them thanks to special bellows.

What instruments are wind instruments?

Let's list the wind instruments. The list is as follows:

• pipe;
• clarinet;
• trombone;
• accordion;
• flute;
• saxophone;
• organ;
• zurna;
• oboe;
• harmonium;
• balaban;
• accordion;
• French horn;
• bassoon;
• tuba;
• bagpipes;
• duduk;
• harmonica;
• Macedonian gaida;
• shakuhachi;
• ocarina;
• serpent;
• horn;
• helicon;
• didgeridoo;
• kurai;
• trembita.

You can name some other similar tools.

Brass

Brass wind musical instruments, as mentioned above, are made of various metals, although in the Middle Ages there were also those made of wood. The sound is extracted from them by strengthening or weakening the blown air, as well as by changing the position of the musician’s lips. Initially, brass instruments were played only in the 30s of the 19th century, valves appeared on them. This allowed such instruments to reproduce a chromatic scale. The trombone has a retractable slide for these purposes.

Brass instruments (list):

• pipe;
• trombone;
• French horn;
• tuba;
• serpent;
• helicon.

Woodwinds

Musical instruments of this type were initially made exclusively from wood. Today this material is practically not used for their production. The name reflects the principle of sound production - there is a wooden reed inside the tube. These musical instruments are equipped with holes on the body, located at a strictly defined distance from each other. The musician opens and closes them while playing with his fingers. Thanks to this, a certain sound is obtained. Woodwind instruments sound according to this principle. The names (list) included in this group are as follows:

• clarinet;
• zurna;
• oboe;
• balaban;
• flute;
• bassoon.

Reed musical instruments

There is another type of wind instrument - reed. They sound thanks to a flexible vibrating plate (tongue) located inside. The sound is produced by exposing it to air, or by pulling and plucking. Based on this feature, you can create a separate list of tools. Reed wind instruments are divided into several types. They are classified according to the method of sound extraction. It depends on the type of reed, which can be metal (for example, as in organ pipes), freely slipping (as in Jew's harp and harmonicas), or beating, or reed, as in reed woodwinds.

List of tools of this type:

• harmonica;
• Jew's harp;
• clarinet;
• accordion;
• bassoon;
• saxophone;
• kalimba;
• harmonic;
• oboe;
• hulus.

Wind instruments with a freely slipping reed include: button accordion, labial. In them, air is pumped by blowing through the musician’s mouth, or by bellows. The air flow causes the reeds to vibrate and thus produce sound from the instrument. The harp also belongs to this type. But its tongue vibrates not under the influence of an air column, but with the help of the musician’s hands, by pinching and pulling it. Oboe, bassoon, saxophone and clarinet are of a different type. In them the tongue is beating, and it is called a cane. The musician blows air into the instrument. As a result, the reed vibrates and sound is produced.

Where are wind instruments used?

Wind instruments, the list of which was presented in this article, are used in orchestras of various compositions. For example: military, brass, symphonic, pop, jazz. And also occasionally they can perform as part of a chamber ensemble. It is extremely rare that they are soloists.

Flute

This is a list related to this has been given above.

The flute is one of the oldest musical instruments. It does not use a reed like other woodwinds. Here the air is cut through the edge of the instrument itself, due to which sound is formed. There are several types of flutes.

Syringa is a single-barreled or multi-barreled instrument of Ancient Greece. Its name comes from the name of the bird's vocal organ. The multi-barreled syringa later became known as the Pan flute. This instrument was played by peasants and shepherds in ancient times. In ancient Rome, syringa accompanied performances on stage.

Recorder - wooden instrument, belonging to the whistle family. Close to it are the sopilka, pipe and whistle. Its difference from other woodwinds is that it back side there is an octave valve, that is, a hole for closing with a finger, on which the pitch of other sounds depends. They are extracted by blowing air and closing the 7 holes on the front side with the musician’s fingers. This type of flute was most popular between the 16th and 18th centuries. Its timbre is soft, melodious, warm, but at the same time its capabilities are limited. Such great composers as Anthony Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and others used the recorder in many of their works. The sound of this instrument is weak, and gradually its popularity declined. This happened after the transverse flute appeared, which is by far the most used. Nowadays, the recorder is used mainly as a teaching instrument. Beginning flutists master it first, only then move on to the longitudinal one.

The piccolo flute is a type of transverse flute. It has the highest timbre of all wind instruments. Its sound is whistling and piercing. Piccolo is half as long as usual. Its range is from “D” second to “C” fifth.

Other types of flutes: transverse, panflute, di, Irish, kena, flute, pyzhatka, whistle, ocarina.

Trombone

This is a brass instrument (the list of those included in this family was presented in this article above). The word "trombone" is translated from Italian as "big trumpet". It has existed since the 15th century. The trombone differs from other instruments in this group in that it has a slide - a tube with which the musician produces sounds by changing the volume of air flow inside the instrument. There are several types of trombone: tenor (the most common), bass and alto (used less frequently), double bass and soprano (practically not used).

Khulus

This is a Chinese reed wind instrument with additional pipes. Its other name is bilandao. He has three or four pipes in total - one main (melodic) and several bourdon (low-sounding). The sound of this instrument is soft and melodic. Most often, hulus are used for solo performance, very rarely - in an ensemble. Traditionally, men played this instrument when declaring their love to a woman.

The group of reed musical instruments includes instruments in which the sound is formed due to the vibrations of elastic reeds placed in the openings of special voice bars. The reeds are excited due to the difference air pressure, created on one and the other side of the tongue.

The reed group includes harmonicas, button accordions, accordions and a number of other instruments. Sometimes this group of instruments also includes some wind instruments that use single or double reeds (reeds). In contrast to wind instruments with reeds (reeds), the reed group includes only those instruments that use slipping (passing) reeds placed in the so-called voice bars.

Division of reeds into chromatic and diatonic

Based on the structure of the scale, reed instruments are divided into diatonic and chromatic. The former mainly include harmonicas, the latter include button accordions, accordions and some other instruments. Sometimes the term harmonica (harmony, harmonica) is understood as the entire group of reed instruments with sliding metal reeds located in the openings of the voice bars and having special channels for supplying a stream of air.

Differences between reed instruments

Reed instruments, which have air chambers of variable volume (bellows), are structurally little different from each other and are varieties of accordions, button accordions, and accordions.

Reed instruments differ among themselves in tuning, sound range, number of voices ( greatest number simultaneously sounding reeds with one button or key pressed), the number of registers (switches for air supply channels to the reeds), the presence or absence of the ability to include ready-made chords.

Symbols depending on characteristics

For the convenience of determining the type of instrument, depending on the number of voices, registers and sound range, it is accepted
conventional numerical designation, for example accordion 41 X 120-III.7/2. The first number (41 in the example) indicates
the number of keys on the right side of the body (in melody), the second number (120) is the number of buttons on the left side of the body (in ac-
accompaniment). If the second number is a fraction, then put in the numerator total number accompaniment buttons, the denominator is the number of selectable buttons. The third number (III) shows the number of voices, the fourth number (7/2) shows the number of registers in the melody (numerator) and in the accompaniment (denominator).

Features of the reed structure

The reeds (voices) corresponding to one pressed button (key) are tuned to different frequencies. So, with four voices, one of the reeds is the main one (string), and its frequency corresponds to the notation, the second - per octave
below the main one, the third is an octave higher than the main one, the fourth is tuned to the same frequency as the main reed, but with an increase or decrease in it by several hertz ( ), which in combination with the main tones creates beats (physiological unison).

A series of bars (reeds) having a frequency higher than the frequency of the main reed is called a piccolo series. The reeds can be tuned to other frequencies.

Different timbres of sound are obtained by turning on the corresponding registers, i.e. groups of reeds. Instruments with one or two voices usually do not have register switches.

Modern reed instruments are widely used for solo, ensemble, orchestral performance of musical works, as well as for accompaniment and educational purposes.

Accordion as a type of reed instrument

The accordion is the simplest of the reed instruments equipped with bellows.

The accordion consists of a neck 12 (Fig. 7.1), game buttons 11, a grid 9 that protects valves 10 from mechanical damage, keyboard mechanics levers 13, resonators 8 with voice melody bars, bellows 7, resonator 6 with voice accompaniment bars, mechanics 14, left keyboard buttons 4, left keyboard flaps 3, left mesh 2, left strap 1.

When the bellows is stretched (compressed), a pressure difference is created inside and outside the instrument body, which when open valve(pressed button) leads to air movement through the corresponding voice bar and excitation of the reed (voice) in its opening.

Harmonies are mainly made with two, three and four voices. Three- and four-voice harmonicas can have 1-4 registers.

The accordion accompaniment is made both ready-made and optional. The tuning is mainly diatonic.

Accordions are divided into two main types: “lamps”, which produce sounds of the same height when the bellows are compressed and stretched, and “wreaths”, which produce sounds of different heights when the bellows are compressed and stretched with the same button pressed. “Wreaths” are made with Russian tuning (a higher tone is produced by compression) and German (a higher tone is produced by stretching) tuning.

The sound range of accordions can be different. For most of them it is approximately three octaves (Table 7.1).

The scale (location of buttons) “khromki” (Fig. 7.2) is different from the scale “wreaths” (Fig. 7.3).

Accordion buttons can be arranged in one, two or three rows, depending on which the accordion is called one-, two- or three-row. The accompaniment has buttons for bass sounds and buttons for ready-made chords (Fig. 7.2, b).

The chords are made up of major and minor triads and seventh chords.

With a three-row arrangement of buttons, the row closest to the bellows consists of buttons called bass buttons. Second and third rows
consist of alternating pairs of buttons, the bottom of which is bass, the top is chord.

The melody reeds are adjusted in accordance with the accepted sound ranges and layout.

There are a number of national accordions (Tatar, Azerbaijani, Dagestan) adapted for performing national music. They differ in layout (special keys are used instead of buttons) and sound range.

The main disadvantage of accordions is their limited performance capabilities (exclusively in comparison with button accordions and accordions, of course).