You either have seen or will see an orchestra in your lifetime. Whether they’re performing  As someone who has seen their fair share of symphonies, seeing musicians get together and play bombastic pieces. The different instruments that come together make up this insane texture that can’t be replicated in any other form.

(slgckgc / Flickr)

Violins are one of the two instruments you think of right away when you think of classical music (the other one being the piano). Orchestral violinists generally start playing their instruments at a young age and dedicate their lives to it. Considering how little room there is for tone shift plus the overall difficulty, it makes sense to start it early on.

Viola is an instrument that you would’ve only learned about if you were into classical music. They are about 20% bigger than a violin and have their sheet music written in the alto clef, rather than the standard treble or bass clefs most music is written in. People love to joke about how it’s the instrument that mediocre violinists play just so then they can have a better chance at making it into an orchestra. You will normally see the parts split into two

Cello is something that you at least know of. It’s not as popular because of its size which can be a hassle for smaller players. It provides a nice foundation for the string section. However, it can only handle so much of the low end before it needs help.

Contrabass, upright bass, double bass, or whatever you call it, is the instrument that makes the low end. Full-sized basses are just above six feet tall. Despite this, smaller players will still find their way to play this instrument. It’s an easier instrument to get around playing since there’s a bit more wiggle room. I even learned how to play it to some extent in one hour. Since it’s tuned similarly to a guitar (but an octave down) or electric bass tuned to E standard, those who can play those instruments will have an easier time learning the instrument. In a typical orchestra

Woodwinds make up an interesting texture of the orchestra and make all the interesting twinkles.

Flutes are the instrument you think of right away when you hear “woodwinds.” It’s an interesting one to play, as you have to blow across the mouthpiece rather than into it. You also have to hold it sideways rather than straight down. Piccolos are fundamentally the same instrument except that it’s an octave higher.

(Mark Bonica / Flickr)

Oboes are often described as duck noise makers. There is a lot of great repertoire written for the oboe such as Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. It is not an instrument that you should be starting out with. This instrument uses a double reed where two pieces of cane flap together to produce sound on it. You should only play this instrument after learning to play another woodwind. English horns are part of the same family and fill up the alto and tenor roles of the woodwind section.

The clarinet is the instrument to start out with if you want to learn a woodwind. It’s an easy instrument to learn at a basic level. The likelihood of you affecting the tone in any way is pretty low. In fact, you can not play the instrument for a few weeks and you’ll sound exactly the same. This instrument uses a single reed, where a piece of cane flaps on a solid mouthpiece to produce sound. The clarinet usually fills in the mezzo-soprano and alto roles of the section. The bass clarinet is another instrument in the same family, filling up the bass role of the section.

Bassoon is easily the one with the least amount of transferable skills. Unlike most instruments where your thumbs are there for placement as well as a few keys, most of the action on the bassoon is usually done by your thumbs. The bocal, the piece that holds the double reed, is pretty dangerous since you can poke someone with it. The contrabassoon, despite its name, is another beast and can’t just be played by someone who knows how to play the bassoon. The keys are simplified which might throw off experienced bassoonists.

Brass instruments can overwhelm the orchestra, so you don’t hear from them that much. When they do play, it’s mostly for the most epic moments of a piece. These instruments usually make sound by vibrating (or “buzzing”) your lips on a mouthpiece using air. The faster your lips vibrate, the higher the note is and vice-versa. You also use a series of button combinations to change the series of notes you can play.

The trumpet is the instrument you think of when you think about brass instruments. They are generally the ones to cut through the orchestra. Because of how much power they provide, they are often only used for more fanfare-like moments of a piece. They usually offer the soprano role in a brass section.

French horns are interesting creatures. Despite mostly filling the alto roles, the range of one can be humongous, being able to play from pedal tones up to screeching high notes. This is possible because the tubing is super long but the diameter of the tubing is narrow. It has the smallest mouthpiece with can be difficult to deal with sometimes. Because of the amount of wiggle room the instrument provides plus the size of the mouthpiece, it can be tiring on your lips in a shorter amount of time compared to other brass instruments.

(Bill Smith / Flickr)

Trombones are an interesting bunch because instead of some kind of button to press down like a key or a valve, you use a slide to change the series of pitches you can achieve. Despite not being exactly clear where each position lies, it’s easy to get a hang of if you practice enough. Because of its flexibility, it’s the only instrument (other than the human voice) that you can get perfectly in tune with. They usually fill up the tenor and baritone voices of the brass section.

Tubas are the biggest out of all of the brass instruments and provide the low end. The majority of pieces they shine in are usually solo pieces. It does take quite a bit of air to play but once you practice enough, you can achieve some great results.

Percussion instruments such as drums, xylophones, marimbas, and triangles don’t get a lot of use in pieces, usually only used to spice things up. Because of how rarely they’re used, they will often wait around. People like to joke about how percussionists only play one note for the entire night.

The orchestra is something that will stay. They have provided soundtracks for movies, shows, and video games. They have also been part of more popular genres like pop and rock. If you get a chance to see an orchestra live, you should probably dress up and go.