Woodwind instruments for kids: what they are and how each one sounds

The woodwind family of the orchestra has four main instruments: the flute, the oboe, the clarinet, and the bassoon. Each one is a tube with holes along its side. The player blows into or across one end and covers the holes to change the note. The four sound quite different from each other, because each one starts the air moving in its own way.

Peter and the Wolf gives each woodwind a character, which makes it a good place for a child to begin.

How a woodwind makes sound

The sound comes from air shaking inside the tube. A long tube gives a low note. When the player lifts a finger off a hole, the air escapes sooner, the tube acts shorter, and the note goes up. Modern instruments have metal keys that cover holes the fingers cannot reach.

There are three ways to set the air moving.

Blow across a hole. The flute and the piccolo work this way. The player blows across an opening near one end, the way a person blows across the top of a bottle.

Use one reed. A reed is a thin strip of cane. On a clarinet, one reed is fixed to the mouthpiece. It flutters against the mouthpiece when the player blows.

Use two reeds. On an oboe and a bassoon, two reeds are tied face to face. The player blows between them, and they flutter against each other. This is called a double reed.

The four main woodwinds

Flute. The player holds it out to the side. Flutes were once made of wood. Most are now made of metal, and they still count as woodwinds. The sound is clear and bright.

Oboe. A black wooden tube with a double reed. Its sound is thin and reedy, and it carries. Before a concert, the oboe plays one note, and the whole orchestra tunes to it.

Clarinet. A black wooden tube with a single reed. It looks a lot like an oboe from far away. Its sound is rounder and smoother, and it can play both low and high.

Bassoon. The lowest of the four. Its tube is about eight feet long, folded in half so the player can hold it. It has a double reed on a curved metal pipe.

Their relatives

Piccolo. A flute half the size. It plays the highest notes in the orchestra.

English horn. A bigger, lower oboe with a rounded bulb at the end. It is not English, and it is not a horn.

Bass clarinet. A long clarinet with a curved metal bell. It plays an octave below the clarinet.

Contrabassoon. A bassoon that plays an octave lower, with twice as much tube.

Saxophone. It is made of brass, and it is still a woodwind, because it uses a single reed. Adolphe Sax invented it in the 1840s. It is common in bands and jazz and appears now and then in the orchestra.

A piece to hear for each one

Flute. The bird in Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev.

Oboe. The duck in Peter and the Wolf.

Clarinet. The cat in Peter and the Wolf.

Bassoon. The grandfather in Peter and the Wolf. All four are covered in the Peter and the Wolf guide. For more bassoon, play The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, where the bassoons are the broom.

Piccolo. The solo near the end of the march “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by Sousa.

English horn. The slow tune in the second movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9.

Three flutes together. “Dance of the Reed Flutes” from The Nutcracker.

Things to do together

Bottle flute. Blow across the top of an empty bottle until it makes a note. Add some water and try again. Less air in the bottle gives a higher note.

Straw reed. Flatten one end of a paper or plastic straw. Cut the flat end into a point with two snips. Put the point between your lips and blow hard. The two flaps buzz against each other, the way a double reed does. Cut the straw shorter and the note goes up.

Who is it? Play Peter and the Wolf. Before each character speaks, ask your child which instrument will play.

Oboe or clarinet. These two are easy to mix up. Play the duck, then the cat, a few times each. Ask which one sounds thinner.

Tuning note. Watch the first minute of a concert video. Listen for the single oboe note, and then the wave of sound as the others join.

Print and play

Print the instrument families listening chart and tick the woodwinds each time you hear them. To hear every woodwind take a solo in order, from piccolo down to bassoon, use The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

For the other three families, go back to instruments of the orchestra for kids.