Musical ensemble

From ArticleWorld

A musical ensemble is a group of more than three people that perform a certain type of music. Based on the numbers of musicians involved there are special terms used to describe the group. Examples can be given in duet, trio, quartet, sextet, septet and octet. They respectively refer to a musical ensemble consisting of two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight musicians. If the group is performing classical music then the names used about are used in association with a category of music called chamber music.

Groups

Based on the musical genre played there are different types of musical ensembles. In jazz for instance the trio line up that is most common consists of drums, piano and bass. A quartet will come with an extra instrument, usually a horn. A jazz performance can be held by a musical ensemble consisting of many musicians. A musical ensemble that has many instruments is called an orchestra. Such groups can even have more than one hundred musicians in one performance and will be grouped based on the type of instrument they play. Smaller orchestras are known as chamber orchestras and string orchestras are orchestras whose members play only string instruments (violins, basses, violas and so on). If the musicians will only sing using their voices then their music ensemble will be called a choir. Groups that play popular music are usually referred to as bands.