Wonderful Woodwinds

What is this topic for?
Discussing woodwind instruments, sheet music, and more! Also, if you have any questions about these instruments or music in general, I'd be happy to try to answer them, even though I am not exactly an expert on these subjects.

What instruments are in the woodwind family?
The basic woodwinds are listed below, but many of them also have “sibling” instruments which are the same instrument but pitched lower or higher.

• Flute & Piccolo
  
• B♭ Clarinet
  
• Alto (E♭) Saxophone
  
• Oboe
  
• Basson
  
• Recorder
  

This is not an extensive list; there are many, many more woodwinds out there.

Where can I find free sheet music?
Flutetunes, 8notes, and The Clarinet Institute are great resources for downloading free sheet music PDFs.

I want to play an instrument, but I don't know which one is for me. How do I decide?
This question doesn't really have a fixed answer; after all, everyone likes different sounds and types of music. The best advice I can give you is this: listen to videos and recordings of many different instruments, and from there work out ones you like and dislike. Eventually, after deciding on your favorites, you can visit a music store or instrument petting zoo to try out the instruments yourself. Just remember that you won't sound like a professional on your first day. Patience is key!


Members
NFlex23: ◈ Flute
Bristle-Frost: ◆ Soprano & alto saxophone, B♭ clarinet

Of course you don't have to be member to participate in this topic, but if you would like to become one, feel free to ask! I'm happy to accept anybody of any skill level, the only requirement being that you play a woodwind. Please use this little form:

Instrument:
Skill level: (see below)
Additional info (optional):

Skill key: beginner: ◇, intermediate: ◆, advanced: ◈, expert: ▣

Post Templates
Sheet music “showcase”:
Separator thing:

I'll start us off: I've been enjoying the music from Flutetunes a lot. Some of my favorites are Badinerie and Tambourin, and I've been attempting to memorize Vivace from Sonata No. 1 in F major by Georg Philipp Telemann. As you can probably tell, I love classical music, though I like other genres as well. Do any of you like to listen to or play classical music as well?

Badinerie ◈ Flute
from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor
by J. S. Bach

Tambourin ◆ Flute
by François-Joseph Gossec

Vivace ◆ Flute
from Sonata No. 1 in F major
by Georg Philipp Telemann

I have a Clarinet?

superscratchmaker536 wrote:

I have a Clarinet?

Nice! Do you play it much?

Edit: I just realized this is my 1700th post. Neat!

Instrument: Soprano saxophone
Skill level: Intermediate
Additional info: An instrument I started to play quite recently, and I REALLY love it

Instrument: Alto saxophone
Skill level: Intermediate

Instrument: B♭ clarinet
Skill level: Intermediate
Additional info: My first instrument and the one I played up until I switched to saxophone, I still have fun playing it every so often

Bristle-Frost wrote:

Instrument: Soprano saxophone
Skill level: Intermediate
Additional info: An instrument I started to play quite recently, and I REALLY love it

Instrument: Alto saxophone
Skill level: Intermediate

Instrument: B♭ clarinet
Skill level: Intermediate
Additional info: My first instrument and the one I played up until I switched to saxophone, I still have fun playing it every so often

Awesome! I've always wanted to try the saxophone; it looks super fun to play. I've also added you to the list.

NFlex23 wrote:

superscratchmaker536 wrote:

I have a Clarinet?

Nice! Do you play it much?

Edit: I just realized this is my 1700th post. Neat!

I use it for band, but not a lot else.

superscratchmaker536 wrote:

NFlex23 wrote:

superscratchmaker536 wrote:

I have a Clarinet?

Nice! Do you play it much?

Edit: I just realized this is my 1700th post. Neat!

I use it for band, but not a lot else.

I play in band as well. It's a lot of fun.

Even though Flight of the Bumblebee looks really hard, it's not actually too difficult (as long as you know your chromatics ). The hardest part is playing it at tempo, which I have yet to accomplish.

Flight of the Bumblebee ▣ Flute
from The Tale of Tsar Saltan
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

I used to play the bass clarinet and greatly enjoyed it! I now predominantly play the kazoo and melodica, if those count (i doubt they do though)

-Charon- wrote:

I used to play the bass clarinet and greatly enjoyed it! I now predominantly play the kazoo and melodica, if those count (i doubt they do though)

That's really cool! Bass clarinets sound so nice. Do you play the melodica the same way as a piano (aside from using air)? I don't know much about them.

Bump… again.

yesterday i went to a rehearsal and i swear none of the flutes were playing (including me). they literally had to single all the flutes out and trust me it wasn’t a pleasant experience
honestly the percussionist was the only thing keeping it “just about tolerable” and not “you now have 20 years taken off your lifespan”

B0o0lean wrote:

yesterday i went to a rehearsal and i swear none of the flutes were playing (including me). they literally had to single all the flutes out and trust me it wasn’t a pleasant experience
honestly the percussionist was the only thing keeping it “just about tolerable” and not “you now have 20 years taken off your lifespan”

Ugh, that sounds pleasant.

I'll move this over to the Things I'm Making and Creating section for you - that's a better fit for this kind of topic