music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, an instrumental idiom refers to

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

parts Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer * Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) a ...

, and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

, those being ''idiomatic'' or ''nonidiomatic'' depending on how well each is suited to the specific instrument intended, in terms of both ease of playing and quality of music and the inherent tendencies and limitations of specific instruments. The analogy is with linguistic idiomaticness, that is, form or structure peculiar to one language but not another. For example, the

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

is played with a slide, making it one of the few wind instruments capable of

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...

or sliding. However, pitches are different

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

s from the harmonic series on different slide positions. Thus, in the lower range, significant movement of the slide is required between positions, but for higher notes the player need only use the first four positions of the slide since the partials are closer together, allowing higher notes to be played in alternate positions. As an example, F4 (at the bottom of the treble clef) may be played in first, fourth or sixth position on a standard B trombone. There are cross-instrument guidelines. For example, it is difficult to begin playing very quietly in the upper or lower

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of some instruments, (it taking more energy to produce sound) with tone quality and/or intonation often suffering. Use of extended techniques and writing in or beyond the highest or lowest range is not recommended, especially for student ensembles, unless writing for a specific performer.

Idiomatic compositional constraints

There are a few notable examples of idiomatic instrumental constraints affecting compositional choices found written music. For example, in the final movement of Ravel's

Piano Concerto in G Major Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, was composed between 1929 and 1931. The concerto is in three movements, with a total playing time of a little over 20 minutes. Ravel said that in this piece he was not aiming to be profound but to enterta ...

, the final note played in the bass voice of the piano sounds an A0, rather than what would be the tonic G0. This is most likely due to the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

's lowest note being A0 rather than G0, which does not exist on a standard piano. Ravel also makes a similar choice in a climactic moment in Jeux d'eau, ending a falling gesture again on A0, rather than G#0 due to the limitations of the instrument. Ravel also employs using A0 to begin the third presentation of the rising motive in the opening of the third movement Gaspard de la nuit when the motive is played down the

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

. The ending of Bax's 4th Piano Sonata written in the key of G major also ends with a low A0 in the bass voice. In the Finale to Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, the violins begin the initial melody, though do not complete the melody when it descends to the low E, which is sounded by the

violas ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

. A similar continuation of the melody by the violas due to the limitations of the violin's range occurs in the final movement of Saint-Saëns' 3rd violin concerto.

Idiomatic compositional constraints

Further reading

See also