The Ocarina makes up an old family of musical instruments that is believed to date back as far as 15,000 years ago. Instruments similar to the Ocarina have been found to be of particular importance in Chinese cultures and Mesoamerican cultures as well. The instrument played a vital role in the long history of dance and song in China. The Ocarina is similar in features to the Xun, which is another instrument of Chinese origin with plenty of importance to the culture's history.

Numerous expeditions to Mesoamerica resulted in the eventual introduction of the Ocarina to Europe. There were versions of the ocarina produced both by the Mayans and the Aztecs as well, but the Aztecs were the people that brought the Ocarina's song and dance to Europe. The ocarina went on to find popularity in many European communities, especially as a toy musical instrument.

There are a number of different styles of ocarina instruments and they vary based on their shape, their design and their number of holes.

Transverse Ocarina - This is the sweet potato ocarina. This is the best known of all styles of ocarina and it has a rounded shape that is held horizontally with both hands. Depending on the chosen number of holes, only one additional hole needs to be opened than the previous in order for the pitch to climb. The two most common types of transverse ocarinas are the 10 hole ocarina and the 12 hole ocarina.

Pendant Ocarina - These ocarina instruments tend to be quite small and very portable in nature, and there are two different kinds that exist. The English Pendant ocarina uses a 4 to 6 hole English system for fingering, and the Peruvian Pendant ocarina uses a Peruvian 8 to 10 hole fingering system. Of the two, the English pendants are the more common type of ocarina.

Multi Chambered Ocarina - Multi chambered types of ocarinas are better known as triple and double ocarinas, and there are three broad categories of ocarina instruments that these types fit into. These ocarinas will overcome the disadvantage that many instruments have in that their range of notes is severely limited. Transverse double ocarinas can play two octaves plus two notes, and triple Transverse ocarinas play within a 2 octaves plus seven notes range, for example.

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Originally posted 2009-08-06 05:28:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Which Acoustic Instrument is Best for Beginners? Have you decided to take up an acoustic musical instrument, but you are not sure which acoustic instrument is best for beginners? When deciding to purchase an acoustic musical instrument, there are a number of different factors that will put influence on your buying decision, including which are easy and......
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Native American Flutes

Native American flutes are flutes that have been around for quite a very long time. The Native American flute is capable of producing a sound that is distinctive in its softness.

Harmonium

The Harmonium was introduced to India by the British during the Colonial period. Indian cultures quickly adopted this unique instrument. The harmonium falls into the family of free reed types of aerophones. They resemble small organs that are the size of a tabletop. Each unique harmonium possesses a bellows at its back, and this is pumped by one of the player's hands while the player uses the other hand to play the keyboard. The most common position for playing the harmonium is to place the instrument on the floor, sitting with crossed legs in front of it. The keys can be played using your dominant hand while the other hand works the bellows. The right hand is the most common hand to play the keys.

Hunting Horn

The hunting horn is an instrument that is commonly used when it comes to fox hunting in order to announce the position of a hunter as well as to signal to the hunting dogs. The hunting horn is one of many different types of bugles.

Ocarina

The original Ocarina is the ceramic Ocarina, and this type of Ocarina is estimated to be more than 12,000 years in age. Ancient examples of this instrument have been cited, as small whistles that are shaped in the form of birds and other wild animals. In India, these small whistles were made from terracotta. Another country where Ocarinas have been common throughout history is in China, where song and dance incorporating the Ocarina has been dated back as far as 5,000 to 6,000 years.

Shvi

The Shvi is essentially a whistle of Armenian descent. It is a flute-type of instrument and it is capable of producing between one and a half and two octaves out of the chromatic scale of music. The lower octave is typically attained by way of blowing normally into the instrument's mouthpiece, while the upper octave on the other hand is attained by way of blowing even harder. The instrument's lower octave is capable of creating soft and recorder-like tones while the upper octave has a more powerful and birdlike shrill sound to it that is similar to the flute or the piccolo. This instrument is actually best known for the ability that it has to mimic many different bird calls.

Photo Credits: lrargerich

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Originally posted 2009-09-24 03:38:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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