Musical Instrument Parts and Accessories Key Terms

Use musical instrument parts and accessories key terms to make sound judgment

By Mark Jenkins

From the clarinet to the sousaphone, musical instruments are often very complex in their construction. Valves, tubes, keys, reeds and mouthpieces must all work in unison to produce a full, rich tone that turns a simple performance into musical art. While a professional repair technician will want to know each part and accessory for every instrument, musicians and music store owners can benefit from knowing a few basic key terms. If you're a musician, you may want to focus on the key terms specific to your instrument.

Finger pearls

Finger pearls are the concave, penny-sized bits of plastic that cap off an instrument's keys. All brass instruments have them, as do a handful of woodwind instruments, including the saxophone. Some high-end manufacturers use mother-of-pearl to make the finger pearls.
Try: Saxophone-Players.com provides up-close photos of a saxophone. You can see the finger pearls, which look like white circles on the photos.

Ligature

The ligature is a round piece of plastic or metal that holds the reed in place on a woodwind instrument. On most woodwinds, you can use a screw to loosen or tighten the ligature.
Try: There is a good selection of ligatures with pictures at Woodwind & Brasswind.

Pickup

A pickup is a piece of metal or wood that transforms the physical vibration of a string into an electrical signal. You can find pickups on electric and acoustic-electric guitars, cellos, mandolins and other string instruments.
Try: View photos of pickups, including Humbucker and noiseless ones, at Guitar Center.

Tuning slide

Some instrument manufacturers make tuning slides to automatically adjust the concert pitch of brass instruments. One common tuning slide changes the pitch of a trumpet from C to Bb tuning.
Try: The Online Trombone Journal provides a detailed look at maintaining the tuning slide on a trombone. Scroll down to see pictures of the parts for the tuning slide.

Rosin

String players rub rosin on their bows to keep a firm grip on the strings. This not only makes their playing more accurate, but it also livens up the instrument's tone and makes for a better performance.
Try: Mystic West Products offers tips and techniques for applying rosin to a new bow.

Drum key

A drum key is one of the percussionist's most important accessories. You can use it to adjust the tension of a drum's head, which can change both its pitch and its tone.
Try: Take a look at the different drum keys at Zzounds Music. They come in a few different shapes and sizes, and you can use some with power tools.