BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in
Music (Performing)
Types of Musical Ensembles
Types of Musical Ensembles
Orchestra
Brass Bands
Wind Bands
Chamber Ensembles
Rock/Pop Groups
Jazz Groups
Folk Bands
Gamelan
Steel Pan Bands
Vocal Groups
Early Music Groups
Monteverdi
Orchestras
 The Orchestra has been around since the 1600’s...
Baroque Orchestra: 1600-1750
Classical Orchestra: 1750-1830
Romantic Orchestra: 1830-1910
Mozart
 Today an Orchestra would have over 90 players
 The principal roles within an Orchestra would
be the Conductor and the Leader, but in reality
every member of the Orchestra has a pivotal role
to play
Wagner
Orchestra Plan
Percussion
Trumpets
Horns
Clarinets
2nd Violins
Flutes
Bassoons
Tuba /
Trombones
Oboes
Violas
1st Violins
Harp
Double
Basses
Cellos
Conductor
Brass Bands
 Brass bands have been around since the 1830’s, and have always
been linked with the workforce
 Famously associated with the mining industry, the film Brassed
Off shows the struggle of Grimethorpe Colliery Band’s struggle
to keep their pit open
 Brass bands have Cornets, a Flugelhorn, Euphoniums,
Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tubas, Tenor Horns, Baritones, and
Percussion
 Brass Band contests take place
throughout the country several
times a year. The most famous are
the Saddleworth Brass Band Contest,
and the British National Brass Band
Contest held at the Royal Albert Hall
Wind Bands
 An orchestra without the strings! Flutes,
Piccolo, Oboes, Clarinets, Bass Clarinet,
Alto/Tenor/Baritone Saxophone, Bassoon,
Trumpet, Cornets, Horns, Baritones, Trombones,
Tubas, and Percussion
 Associated with Military Bands, which have been around in
some form from the 11th century Crusades
 Famous composers of Wind Band music are the Australian
Percy Grainger, and the English Ralph Vaughan Williams
 Wind Bands also include a lot of film and television music
in their repertoire
Chamber Ensembles
 The term originally meant intimate music for a small group of
players usually performed within the home, and has been around
since the Middle Ages
 Originally just for string instruments, but during
the 18th century wind instruments were also included
 The String quartet was made popular by Haydn in
the 1750’s . Music for a String quartet usually shares
the tune between all players, thus making an equal role for all
 Chamber orchestras became popular during the two World Wars,
for the simple reason that they were cheaper to hire or run
Rock Groups
 Rock music evolved from the blues music brought to north
America from the Deep South by African-Americans after
World War II
 Leo Fender was the first to mass-produce the electric guitar
in 1948
 African-American music evolved from motown in the 1960’s
to disco and rap in the 1990’s
 Elvis Presley became one of the most popular rock artists of
the 20th century, also becoming one of the first artists to be a
teenage heartthrob
Pop Groups
 Pop music began to evolve in the 1960’s, with groups such as The
Beatles and the Rolling Stones
 The Eurovision song contest originally was a place for new Pop
acts to enter the profession, bringing Swedish group
ABBA to the fore in 1974
 Pop and Rock are similar in their instrumentation.
A group would usually consist of both electric and
bass guitars, drums, keyboard, and vocalist(s)
 The main difference between Pop and Rock is the terms
themselves. Popular music is ever changing, while Rock is a
separate genre evolving throughout the 20th century
 Pop could be applied to any genre of the day. Therefore, the Pop
musicians of the Baroque era would be composers such as Bach!
Jazz Groups
 An American genre originating in cities such as New Orleans and
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Chicago
It evolved from Dixieland jazz and ragtime, with composers such
as Scott Joplin, famous for his piano piece The Entertainer
Trumpet player Louis Armstrong was one of the first to create jazz
as we recognise it, and started the tradition of improvised solos
Jazz could include many combinations of instruments including
Trumpets, Saxophones, Clarinets, Double Bass, Drums and Piano
More modern jazz included artists such as Miles Davies, Benny
Goodman, and Gordon Goodwin
Folk Groups
 Folk music is any music specific to a certain place. This does not
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just mean music specific to each country, but also music specific
to each county, village, etc.
Work songs are one form of folk music, for example, songs from
the work plantations during the slave trade era in America
Ballads, songs that told a story, either fictional legends or news of
the day. Sometimes these were unaccompanied, sometimes with
an instrumental accompaniment
Music for dancing is still popular, used at barn dances and ceilidhs
Today, musicians such as Bob Dylan are considered to be folk
artists
Gamelan
 Gamelan music originated in South Asia
 It always consists of a series of different gongs,
sometimes with drums, flutes, stringed instruments,
and occasionally vocalists
 In 1889, Paris hosted an Exhibition of music from all
over the world. Composers were suddenly exposed to
new styles of music
 Composers such as Debussy began to
bring Gamelan into their own music,
creating a whole new genre of exoticism.
Steel Pan Bands
 Originally from Trinidad, they became popular in the
1930’s and 40’s
 Steel pans, or drums were made from the top half of oil
drums. The larger the half used, the deeper the sound
of the drum
 They were often used in carnival or Samba bands
 These days, Steel Pan bands often use
Western instruments such as guitars or
drum kits alongside the steel drums
Vocal Groups
 One of the earliest forms of vocal groups were the
singers of Madrigals in the 15th century. Women
were forbidden to sing in church, so the high parts
were sung by young boys
 Opera came to the fore in the 15oo’s, leading both men
and women to extend their vocal range as composers experimented
with new musical techniques
 Choirs have existed since Medieval times, mainly for church
services. The earliest Mass setting is attributed to Guillaume de
Machaut, a composer of the 1300’s
 Oratorios by composers such as Handel in the 18th century, sung
by both men and women, led to the formation of choral societies
 Today, singing has been made popular through musical theatre
composers such as Lloyd-Webber and Sondheim
Early Music Groups
 The Gregorian chant, named after
Pope Gregory I, is one of the earliest known
forms of music. These chants were often sung
in churches and monasteries to call people to
worship, or to signal certain points in the Mass
 Secular music was also used, often on long
journeys as a means of passing the time, or as work songs
 Very few people sung the music of other people; much of
what they performed were their own compositions
 The time of the first peripatetic musicians! The travelling
musicians of noble birth were Troubadours, while the
professional entertainers of low birth were Minstrels