A musical ensemble , also known as a music group , musical group , or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music , with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra . Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo-wop groups. In both popular music and classical music , there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo ( harpsichord and cello ) and one or more singers. In classical music , trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families (such as piano , strings , and wind instruments ) or group instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles (e.g., string quartet ) or wind ensembles (e.g., wind quintet ). Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra , which uses a string section , brass instruments , woodwinds , and percussion instruments , or the concert band , which uses brass, woodwinds, and percussion. In jazz ensembles or combos, the instruments typically include wind instruments (one or more saxophones , trumpets , etc.), one or two chordal "comping" instruments ( electric guitar , acoustic guitar , piano, or Hammond organ ), a bass instrument ( bass guitar or double bass ), and a drummer or percussionist. Jazz ensembles may be solely instrumental, or they may consist of a group of instruments accompanying one or more singers. In rock and pop ensembles, usually called rock bands or pop bands, there are usually guitars and keyboards (piano, electric piano, Hammond organ , synthesizer , etc.), one or more singers, and a rhythm section made up of a bass guitar and drum kit .
31-631: The Peech Boys , also known as the New York Citi Peech Boys or NYC Peech Boys, were a band that comprised Bernard Fowler , Steven Brown, Robert Kasper, Darryl Short, Larry Levan and Michael de Benedictus. The group formed at the Paradise Garage , being influenced by Larry Levan . They only released four 12" discs with "On a Journey" peaking at #56 in the 1983 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart . However, they are most known for their 1982 song "Don't Make Me Wait", which
62-437: A flute , an oboe , a clarinet , and a bassoon . A brass quartet features two trumpets , a trombone , and a tuba (or French horn (more commonly known as "horn") ). A saxophone quartet consists of a soprano saxophone , an alto saxophone , a tenor saxophone , and a baritone saxophone . The string quintet is a common type of group. It is similar to the string quartet, but with an additional viola, cello, or more rarely,
93-439: A string quartet (i.e., two violins , viola , and cello ). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a piano quintet. The genre flourished during the nineteenth century. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, most piano quintets were scored for piano, violin , viola , cello , and double bass . Following the success of Robert Schumann 's Piano Quintet in E ♭ major, Op. 44 in 1842, which paired
124-462: A chamber orchestra). Larger orchestras are called symphony orchestras (see below) or philharmonic orchestras. A pops orchestra is an orchestra that mainly performs light classical music (often in abbreviated, simplified arrangements) and orchestral arrangements and medleys of popular jazz, music theater, or pop music songs. A string orchestra has only string instruments, i.e., violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. A symphony orchestra
155-537: A form of male rebellion vis-à-vis female bedroom culture." In popular music, there has been a gendered "distinction between public (male) and private (female) participation" in music. "[S]everal scholars have argued that men exclude women from bands or the bands' rehearsals, recordings, performances, and other social activities." "Women are mainly regarded as passive and private consumers of allegedly slick, prefabricated – hence, inferior – pop music..., excluding them from participating as high-status rock musicians." One of
186-421: A high prominence in many popular music styles as singers. However, professional women instrumentalists are uncommon in popular music, especially in rock genres such as heavy metal . "[P]laying in a band is largely a male homosocial activity, that is, learning to play in a band is largely a peer-based... experience, shaped by existing sex-segregated friendship networks." As well, rock music "...is often defined as
217-406: A leader. In jazz bands, rock and pop groups, and similar ensembles, this is the band leader . In classical music, orchestras, concert bands, and choirs are led by a conductor . In orchestra, the concertmaster (principal first violin player) is the instrumentalist leader of the orchestra. In orchestras, the individual sections also have leaders, typically called the "principal" of the section (e.g.,
248-495: A quintet for piano and winds, scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, that are sometimes referred to as piano quintets. In the middle of the 19th century, Robert Schumann 's Piano Quintet in E ♭ major , Op. 44 (1842), composed for piano with string quartet, helped establish that combination of instruments as the typical model for the piano quintet. Schumann's choice of scoring reflected developments in musical performance and instrumental design. By midcentury,
279-463: A singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader." According to Auslander, she was "kicking down the male door in rock and roll and proving that a female musician ... and this is a point I am extremely concerned about ... could play as well if not better than the boys". Piano quintet In classical music , a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly (since 1842)
310-663: Is an ensemble usually comprising at least thirty musicians; the number of players is typically between fifty and ninety-five and may exceed one hundred. A symphony orchestra is divided into families of instruments. In the string family, there are sections of violins (I and II), violas, cellos (often eight), and basses (often from six to eight). The standard woodwind section consists of flutes (one doubling piccolo), oboes (one doubling English horn), soprano clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), and bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon). The standard brass section consists of horns, trumpets, trombones, and tuba. The percussion section includes
341-554: Is one of the most frequently performed works of the genre. Subsequent compositions such as César Franck 's Piano Quintet in F minor (1879) and Antonín Dvořák 's Piano Quintet #2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) further solidified the genre as a "vehicle for Romantic expression." In the twentieth century, the piano quintet repertoire was expanded with contributions by composers such as Béla Bartók , Sergei Taneyev , Louis Vierne , Edward Elgar , Amy Beach , Gabriel Fauré , Dmitri Shostakovich , and Mieczysław Weinberg . However, unlike
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#1732786977017372-413: Is rare, except for the nonet (nine musicians). In most cases, a larger classical group is referred to as an orchestra of some type or a concert band. A small orchestra with fifteen to thirty members (violins, violas, four cellos, two or three double basses, and several woodwind or brass instruments) is called a chamber orchestra . A sinfonietta usually denotes a somewhat smaller orchestra (though still not
403-423: The string quartet was regarded as the most prestigious and important chamber music genre, while advances in the design of the piano had expanded its power and dynamic range. Bringing the piano and string quartet together, Schumann's piano quintet took full advantage of the expressive possibilities of these forces in combination, alternating conversational passages between the five instruments with passages in which
434-455: The timpani , bass drum , snare drum , and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel , chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). In Baroque music (1600–1750) and music from the early Classical period music (1750–1820), the percussion parts in orchestral works may only include timpani. A wind orchestra or concert band is a large classical ensemble generally made up of between 40 and 70 musicians from
465-422: The wind machine or cannons . When orchestras perform music from the 20th century or the 21st century, occasionally instruments such as electric guitar, theremin , or even an electronic synthesizer may be used. A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by
496-430: The wind quintet , usually consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn; the brass quintet , consisting of two trumpets, one horn, a trombone, and a tuba; and the reed quintet, consisting of an oboe, a soprano clarinet, a saxophone, a bass clarinet, and a bassoon. Classical chamber ensembles of six (sextet), seven (septet), or eight musicians (octet) are fairly common; the use of latinate terms for larger groups
527-574: The 1940s. Vocal groups can come in several different forms, including: A group that plays popular music or military music is usually called a band; a drum and bugle corps is a type of the latter. These bands perform a wide range of music, ranging from arrangements of jazz orchestral, or popular music to military-style marches. Drum corps perform on brass and percussion instruments only. Drum and Bugle Corps incorporate costumes, hats, and pageantry in their performances. Other band types include: See List of musical band types for more. Women have
558-591: The Animals , is called an undecet , and a group of twelve is called a duodecet (see Latin numerical prefixes ). A soloist playing unaccompanied (e.g., a pianist playing a solo piano piece or a cellist playing a Bach suite for unaccompanied cello ) is not an ensemble because it only contains one musician. A string quartet consists of two violins , a viola , and a cello . There is a vast body of music written for string quartets, making it an important genre in classical music . A woodwind quartet usually features
589-400: The addition of a double bass. Terms such as " piano quintet " or "clarinet quintet" frequently refer to a string quartet plus a fifth instrument. Mozart 's Clarinet Quintet is similarly a piece written for an ensemble consisting of two violins, a viola, a cello, and a clarinet, the last being the exceptional addition to a "normal" string quartet. Some other quintets in classical music are
620-433: The combined forces of the strings are massed against the piano. In Schumann's hands, the piano quintet became a genre "suspended between private and public spheres" alternating between "quasi-symphonic and more properly chamber-like elements"—well suited to an era when chamber music was increasingly being performed in large concert halls rather than at private gatherings in intimate spaces. Schumann's quintet helped establish
651-490: The gender composition of heavy metal bands , it has been said that "[h]eavy metal performers are almost exclusively male" "...[a]t least until the mid-1980s" apart from "...exceptions such as Girlschool ". However, "...now [in the 2010s] maybe more than ever–strong metal women have put up their dukes and got down to it," "carv[ing] out a considerable place for [them]selves". When Suzi Quatro emerged in 1973, "no other prominent female musician worked in rock simultaneously as
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#1732786977017682-655: The leader of the viola section is called the "principal viola"). Conductors are also used in jazz big bands and in some very large rock or pop ensembles (e.g., a rock concert that includes a string section , a horn section , and a choir that accompanies a rock band's performance). In Western classical music, smaller ensembles are called chamber music ensembles. The terms duo , trio , quartet , quintet , sextet , septet , octet , nonet , and decet describe groups of two up to ten musicians, respectively. A group of eleven musicians, such as found in The Carnival of
713-538: The piano quintet as a significant chamber music genre during the Romantic period in classical music. It was immediately acclaimed and widely imitated. Johannes Brahms , for example, was persuaded by Clara Schumann (who had played the piano part in the first public performance of her husband's piano quintet) to rework a sonata for two pianos as a piano quintet. The result, the Piano Quintet in F minor (1864),
744-466: The piano with a string quartet, composers increasingly adopted Schumann's instrumentation, and it was this form of the piano quintet that dominated during the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Among the best known and most frequently performed piano quintets, aside from Schumann's, are Schubert's Trout quintet and the piano quintets of Johannes Brahms , César Franck , Antonín Dvořák and Dmitri Shostakovich . While
775-401: The reasons that there are rarely mixed gender bands is that "bands operate as tight-knit units in which homosocial solidarity – social bonds between people of the same sex... – plays a crucial role." In the 1960s pop music scene, "[s]inging was sometimes an acceptable pastime for a girl, but playing an instrument...simply wasn't done." "The rebellion of rock music was largely a male rebellion;
806-458: The related chamber music genres of the piano trio and piano quartet were established in the eighteenth century by Mozart and others, the piano quintet did not come into its own until the nineteenth century. Its roots extend into the late Classical period , when piano concertos were sometimes transcribed for piano with string quartet accompaniment. Although Luigi Boccherini composed quintets for piano and string quartet, before 1842 it
837-457: The timpani, bass drum, snare drum, and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel, chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). When orchestras perform baroque music (from the 17th century and early 18th century), they may also use a harpsichord or pipe organ , to play the continuo part. When orchestras perform Romantic-era music (from the 19th century), they may also use harps or unusual instruments such as
868-607: The women—often, in the 1950s and '60s, girls in their teens—in rock usually sang songs as personæ utterly dependent on their macho boyfriends..." Philip Auslander says that "Although there were many women in rock by the late 1960s, most performed only as singers, a traditionally feminine position in popular music." Though some women played instruments in American all-female garage rock bands , none of these bands achieved more than regional success. So they "did not provide viable templates for women's on-going participation in rock". About
899-786: The woodwind, brass, and percussion families, along with the double bass. The concert band has a larger number and variety of wind instruments than the symphony orchestra but does not have a string section (although a single double bass is common in concert bands). The woodwind section of a concert band consists of piccolo, flutes, oboes (one doubling English horn), bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon), soprano clarinets (one doubling E ♭ clarinet, one doubling alto clarinet), bass clarinets (one doubling contrabass clarinet or contra-alto clarinet), alto saxophones (one doubling soprano saxophone), tenor saxophone, and baritone saxophone. The brass section consists of horns, trumpets or cornets, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas. The percussion section consists of
930-723: Was more common for the piano to be joined by violin, viola, cello and double bass. Among the best known quintets for this combination of instruments are Franz Schubert 's "Trout" Quintet in A major (1819) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel 's Piano Quintet in E-flat minor , Op.87 (1802). Other piano quintets using this instrumentation were composed by Jan Ladislav Dussek (1799), Ferdinand Ries (1817), Johann Baptist Cramer (1825, 1832), Henri Jean Rigel (1826), Johann Peter Pixis (ca.1827), Franz Limmer (1832), Louise Farrenc (1839, 1840), and George Onslow (1846, 1848, 1849). Mozart (in 1784) and Ludwig van Beethoven (in 1796) each composed
961-695: Was one of the early hits in the New York house / garage scene, due to Levan's playing it at the Paradise Garage. " Don't Make Me Wait " was their only UK Singles Chart entry, peaking at #49 in November 1982. They were signed to the West End Records label , but in 1984 they split up. This article on a house music band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Musical ensemble Music ensembles typically have