User:AltoCristo/sandbox

=Disorganized Essay Example=

I've always been interested in music, and learning about different musical instruments. When I was a kid I played clarinet in the school band, and the clarinet has been around for a long time, longer than the saxophone for instance. But clarinets aren't as old as drums. Maybe the drum was the first musical instrument. But I was never particularly interested in drumming. I don't have a good sense of rhythm. Other kinds of instruments have also interested me, and eventually I found out that instruments are grouped in families, like there is the string family, which is instruments that have strings that are bowed or plucked. One example is the violin. There have been many famous violin players, and also the violin has spread all around the world. I didn't play violin when I was in school, though, because I played clarinet.

Clarinet is a reed instrument, which is an instrument that has a reed you blow through to make the sound. Instead of a string vibrating, the reed vibrates. Which is different from percussion, where you hit the instrument, like how you hit a drum with a stick. One funny example is the piano. You'd think it was a string instrument, because it has strings in it, but it's a percussion instrument because the strings are hit with little hammers. Also, xylophones are percussion instruments.

One of the weirdest instruments I know of is called the "glass harmonica." It was invented by George Washington. It's a bunch of glasses that make a singing sound. I don't know what orchestra family that would fit under. You don't strike it, you don't play it with a bow, and there's no reeds. I wonder where a singer would go, too. I think there's one more family of instruments. There are four, and we have talked about three in this essay.

I've always had an interest in music, and learning about different musical instruments. I was clarinet player in my school band as a kid. I wasn't always just interested in clarinet. Percussion gave me an interest because it came before the clarinet. Also the violin, which has spread around the world. I eventually found out that the instruments are grouped into families such as woodwinds, percussion, and string.

The woodwinds family, which the clarinet goes into, are instruments you blow through with a reed or lots of buttons and holes to make sound. The reed vibrates when you blow through instrument, which makes sound.

The percussion family, which I had never really fit me, are instruments you strike to make sound. What's funny is that the piano is actually in the percussion family. You'd think that it's in the string family because it has strings in it. The strings are hit by mini mallets which clarifies it in the percussion family. I had an interest in percussion because it came before clarinet.

Finally the string family, with instruments such as the violin. The strings can be played with a bow to make long connected sound. They can also be plucked by fingers to create short quirky sounds. There have been many famous violin players, and it might be due to the violin spreading across the world. I didn't play violin because the clarinet was my focus as a kid in band.