Flute

Along with it's smaller cousin - the piccolo - the flute has one of the highest voices in the woodwind family.

Oboe

The oboe is often confused with its cousin the clarinet which also has a black wooden body, and silvery keys. If you look closely though you can see the thin double-reed that the musician blows into at the top to make the oboe look (and sound!) different.  

Recorder

Recorders are instruments that have been around for thousands of years ago, and up until recently ALL recoders were made out of wood.  Our plastic recorders are a relatively new invention!

Clarinet

The clarinet has the ability to play from low notes all the way up to high notes which places it in the middle of the woodwind family ladder. It gets its reedy, sweet voice from the single wooden reed that the player blows into.

Bass Clarinet

Specializing in LOW notes, this big woodwind instrument has a single piece of wood that vibrates just like the regular clarinet, but produces deep rich tones because it's much longer than the regular clarinet.

Bassoon

The bassoon is closely related to the oboe and english horn because it uses a pair of double wooden reeds that vibrate together to produce a sound just like they do.  The bassoon is long in length, and often has a low and raspy voice.

Contrabassoon

Woah! This giant instrument is related to the regular bassoon in the exact OPPOSITE way that the piccolo flute is related to the regular flute. That is, the contrabassoon is a GIANT bassoon, and in fact it plays the lowest notes in the entire orchestra!

English Horn

The English Horn has a rich, sinewy, and burly voice because it has a double-reed just like it's close cousins - the slightly smaller oboe, and the much larger bassoon.