Concert band
A large wind ensemble of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments that performs concert repertoire, usually without strings.
Woodwind instrument: An instrument that produces sound by directing air across an opening or through a reed. Flutes, clarinets, oboes, and bassoons form the ensemble’s woodwind section.
Wind ensemble: A concert ensemble of wind and percussion instruments, often with fewer players and more exposed parts than a concert band. Its smaller forces and one-player-per-part approach differ from typical concert-band practice.
Military band: An ensemble of wind and percussion instruments organized to serve military functions and perform music. Military bands supplied personnel, repertory, and instrumentation for later concert bands.
School band: A student ensemble of winds and percussion formed within a school music program. School bands provide a major setting for learning concert-band instruments and repertory.
Symphony orchestra: A large ensemble combining strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion to perform orchestral music. Strings anchor the orchestra, while concert bands typically center on winds and percussion.
Brass instrument: An instrument that produces sound through lip vibration in a cup-shaped mouthpiece. Trumpets, horns, trombones, and tubas supply the ensemble’s brass voices.
Concert band seating: The arrangement of concert-band sections and players onstage. Seating affects projection, balance, and how players hear one another.
Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore: An Irish-born American bandleader known for developing large professional bands and public musical events. His influential nineteenth-century ensembles helped establish band concerts as public spectacle.
Community band: An amateur or volunteer wind ensemble serving a local community. Community bands make ensemble performance available outside professional and school settings.
Wind quintet: A chamber ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. Its five-player scale contrasts with the concert band’s large sections and massed sound.