Idiophones primarily produce their sounds by means of the actual body of the instrument vibrating, rather than a string, membrane, or column of air. In essence, this group includes all percussion instruments apart … See more

Chordophones primarily produce their sounds by means of the vibration of a string or strings that are stretched between fixed points. This group includes all instruments … See more

• 51. Instruments having electric action (e.g. pipe organ with electrically controlled solenoid air valves);
• 52. Instruments having electrical amplification, such as the Neo-Bechstein piano of 1931, which had 18 microphones built into it; See more

After the number described above, a number of suffixes may be appended. An 8 indicates that the instrument has a keyboard attached, while a 9 indicates the instrument is mechanically driven. In addition to these, there are a number of suffixes unique to … See more

Membranophones primarily produce their sounds by means of the vibration of a tightly stretched membrane. This group includes all drums and kazoos.
Struck membranophones (21)
Struck drums are instruments which have a struck membrane. … See more

Aerophones primarily produce their sounds by means of vibrating air. The instrument itself does not vibrate, and there are no vibrating strings or membranes. See more

Beyond the top three groups are several further levels of classification, so that the xylophone, for example, is in the group labeled 111.212 (periods are usually added after every third digit to make long numbers easier to read). A long classification … See more