woodwind
woodwinds
A woodwind is a type of musical instrument that you play by blowing into its mouthpiece. Flutes, clarinets, and oboes are all woodwinds. So are bagpipes—but you might have a hard time convincing your music teacher to let you play bagpipes in the marching band.
Most woodwinds have a mouthpiece with a thin strip of material called a reed that vibrates when air passes. Blowing into a saxophone or clarinet is different than blowing across the opening in a flute or piccolo, but they're all woodwinds. Each requires wind, or a stream of blown air, to play notes. While today most woodwinds are made from metal and other materials, the original woodwinds were wooden—which explains the wood part of the name.
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any wind instrument other than the brass instruments
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synonyms:
wood, woodwind instrument
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types:
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beating-reed instrument, reed, reed instrument
a musical instrument that sounds by means of a vibrating reed
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flute, transverse flute
a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown
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double reed, double-reed instrument
a woodwind that has a pair of joined reeds that vibrate together
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fife
a small high-pitched flute similar to a piccolo; has a shrill tone and is used chiefly to accompany drums in a marching band
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free-reed
a reed that does not fit closely over the aperture
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nose flute
a flute that is played by blowing through the nostrils (used in some Asian countries)
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piccolo
a small flute; pitched an octave above the standard flute
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single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind
a beating-reed instrument with a single reed (as a clarinet or saxophone)
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type of:
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wind, wind instrument
a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
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