Musical instruments questions

Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature. It is known for its distinctive tone colour, wide range, variety of character, and agility.

The kabosy is a box-shaped wooden guitar commonly played in music of Madagascar. It has four to six strings and is commonly thought to be a direct descendant of the Arabic oud. The kabosy has staggered frets, many of which do not even cross the entire fretboard, and is generally tuned to an open chord. A kabosy-like instrument with standard frets is known as a mandalina or mandoliny. Notable players of the kabosy include Babata and Jean Emilien.

The balalaika is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body and three strings. The instrument generally has a short sustain, necessitating rapid strumming or plucking when it is used to play melodies. Balalaikas are often used for Russian folk music and dancing.

The marimba (/məˈrɪmbə/) is a percussion instrument consisting of a set of wooden bars struck with yarn or rubber mallets to produce musical tones. Resonators or pipes suspended underneath the bars amplify their sound. The bars of a chromatic marimba are arranged like the keys of a piano, with the groups of two and three accidentals raised vertically, overlapping the natural bars to aid the performer both visually and physically. This instrument is a type of idiophone, but with a more resonant and lower-pitched tessitura than the xylophone.

The glass harmonica is a grater idiophone, developed by Benjamin Franklin in 1761, which has occupied a prominent position in the history of music, but is largely forgotten today. The instrument consists of differently sized, interleaved glass bells, which are stored on a common horizontal axis, which in turn can be rotated by a pedal in rotation.

The cornet is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. Among the first manufacturers of modern cornets was Parisian Jean Asté in 1828. Cornets first appeared as separate instrumental parts in 19th century French compositions.

Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the sostenuto pedal, and the sustaining pedal (or damper pedal). Some pianos omit the sostenuto pedal, or have a middle pedal with a different purpose such as a muting function also known as silent piano.

Modern trumpets have most a three (or, infrequently, four) piston valves, each of which increases the length of tubing when engaged, thereby lowering the pitch. The first valve lowers the instrument's pitch by a whole step the second valve by a half step , and the third valve by one and a half steps.

The word ukulele is Hawaiian in origin; the instrument is associated with the Hawaiian archipelago about as strongly as a Hawaiian vacation is associated with envy. But the ukulele itself is not from Hawaii. It was brought there by Portuguese immigrants who called it a machete.

The name of the instrument comes from ancient Greece. According to Greek mythology, it was an instrument of a god named Pan, protector of shepherds and herds. Currently, it is popular all over the world.