The loudest, biggest, highest, and lowest instruments in the orchestra
Updated 2026-11-14
The loudest instruments in the orchestra are in the brass and percussion sections. The highest is the piccolo. The lowest wind instrument is the contrabassoon, and the double bass and the tuba are close behind. This page names a record holder for each question and gives the reason.
The record holders
| Question | Instrument | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Loudest | Trombone and trumpet, with the bass drum and cymbals | Brass bells throw sound straight at the audience |
| Highest | Piccolo | It is half the length of a flute |
| Lowest woodwind | Contrabassoon | It has about 16 feet of tube, folded up |
| Lowest brass | Tuba | It has about 18 feet of tube |
| Lowest string | Double bass | It has the longest, thickest strings |
| Biggest | Double bass, harp, and concert grand piano | Each one is about six feet or more |
| Smallest | Piccolo and triangle | The piccolo is about a foot long |
| Most players | Violin | About 30 in a large orchestra |
| Most strings | Piano | About 230 |
| The one that tunes the others | Oboe | Its sound is steady and easy to hear |
The loudest
For the players who sit nearby, a trumpet or a trombone at full power can be as loud as a rock concert. Brass players point their bells at the audience, and the sound travels in a straight line.
The percussion section makes the loudest single sounds. A hard stroke on the bass drum or a crash of the cymbals can be felt in the chest.
Players who sit in front of the brass often wear earplugs or sit behind clear shields.
The loudest instrument ever built is not in an orchestra. It is a pipe organ in a hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with more than 33,000 pipes.
The highest
The piccolo plays the highest notes of any wind instrument. Its name means “small” in Italian. One piccolo can be heard over a full orchestra.
Violins can go as high with a feather-light touch on the string that makes it whistle. The top notes of the piano, the celesta, and the glockenspiel are up there too.
The lowest
Low notes need something long or large to shake.
The contrabassoon plays the lowest notes of the woodwinds. Its lowest note is close to the bottom of the piano.
The tuba is the lowest of the brass. The double bass is the lowest of the strings.
The piano goes lower still. Its bottom key is a shade below the contrabassoon’s lowest note.
The biggest
- A double bass stands about six feet tall.
- A concert harp is about six feet tall and weighs about 80 pounds.
- A concert grand piano is about nine feet long and weighs close to 1,000 pounds.
- A tuba has about 18 feet of tube, coiled up.
The smallest
The piccolo is about a foot long. The triangle is a steel bar bent into three sides. Both are small, and both cut through the whole orchestra.
The oldest and the newest
Oldest. Flutes and drums are the oldest kinds of instrument. Flutes made of bone have been found that are about 40,000 years old.
Newest. The tuba was invented in 1835. The saxophone followed in the 1840s. The celesta dates from 1886.
Things to do together
High and low. Play a piccolo piece and a tuba piece. Reach up for the high notes and crouch down for the low ones.
Long tube, low note. Blow across the tops of a short bottle and a tall bottle. The tall one is lower.
Find the record holders. Watch a concert video. Find the piccolo, the tuba, the double basses, and the contrabassoon.
Loud and soft. Play the end of the 1812 Overture and the start of “Clair de lune.” Ask which instruments make the difference.
Measure it. Mark six feet on a wall. That is a double bass. Mark one foot. That is a piccolo.
Pieces that show them off
- Piccolo: “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” by Sousa. Read John Philip Sousa for kids.
- Tuba: “Bydlo,” from Pictures at an Exhibition. Read the listening guide.
- Double bass: “The Elephant,” from The Carnival of the Animals. Read the listening guide.
- Contrabassoon: the Beast in Mother Goose, by Ravel.
- Brass and percussion: the end of the 1812 Overture, by Tchaikovsky.
Print and play
Tick each family on the instrument families listening chart. Read brass instruments for kids, woodwind instruments for kids, and the double bass for kids.
For all four families, see instruments of the orchestra for kids.
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This article is part of Instruments of the orchestra for kids: the four families and how they sound.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.