Extended technique
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In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of
singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or with ...
or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or
timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voices and musica ...
s.Burtner, Matthew (2005).
Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Experimentalism
, ''NewMusicBox.org''.
Composers’ use of extended techniques is not specific to contemporary music (for instance, Hector Berlioz’s use of ''
col legno In music for bowed string instrument Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite th ...
'' in his '' Symphonie Fantastique'' is an extended technique) and it transcends compositional schools and styles. Extended techniques have also flourished in
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
. Nearly all
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
performers make significant use of extended techniques of one sort or another, particularly in more recent styles like
free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
or
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...
. Musicians in
free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...
have also made heavy use of extended techniques. Examples of extended techniques include bowing under the bridge of a string instrument or with two different bows, using key clicks on a wind instrument, blowing and overblowing into a wind instrument without a mouthpiece, or inserting objects on top of the strings of a
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 keybo ...
. Twentieth-century exponents of extended techniques include Henry Cowell (use of fists and arms on the keyboard, playing inside the piano), John Cage (
prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for p ...
), and George Crumb. The
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
, which has been among the most active ensembles in promoting contemporary American works for string quartet, frequently plays music which stretches the manner in which sound can be drawn out of instruments.


Examples


Vocal

*
Sprechstimme (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which ...
(speech-singing) *
overtone singing Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...
(harmonic singing, or vocal
multiphonic A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voic ...
s) *
ululation Ululation (), , is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid back and forth movement of the tongue and the uvula. Around th ...
*
beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.
(vocal percussionists) * growling * screaming and shouting *
whispering Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains th ...
* panting *
whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...
* hissing * clucking *
barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
*
sucking Suction is the colloquial term to describe the air pressure differential between areas. Removing air from a space results in a pressure differential. Suction pressure is therefore limited by external air pressure. Even a perfect vacuum cannot ...


Bowed string instruments

* playing with a plectrum or pick * playing with percussion sticks, mallets, or other objects * bowing on the "wrong" side of the left hand fingers * bowing behind the bridge * bowing non-string parts of the instrument * parallel rather than perpendicular bowing * exaggerated
vibrato Vibrato ( Italian, from past participle of " vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms ...
* snap pizzicato, also called Bartók pizzicato * tapping or rubbing the soundboard of stringed instruments * string scrapes with finger, nail, or object * percussive effects on body of instrument *
tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...
on the fingerboard * "seagull" harmonic effects * detuning a string while playing * preparation * resonance effects


Plucked string instruments

* using a bow * playing with percussion sticks, mallets, or other objects * playing on crossed strings (called "snare drum effect" on guitar) * snap pizzicato, in which a string is pulled away from the fingerboard until it snaps back and strikes the fingerboard. * string scrapes, a technique especially associated with electric guitar and electric bass, as played with a pick. * percussive effects, such as drumming on a string instrument body * palm and finger muting ("pizzicato") *
tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...
on the fingerboard * string pops and slaps (fingerboard instruments) * preparation of a guitar by inserting screws or pieces of metal in the bridge or between the strings. * detuning a string while playing * "
3rd bridge The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on the electric guitar and other string instruments that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bri ...
", a guitar technique using the part of the string between the nut and the stopping finger; see Xenakis'
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...
piece '' Nomos Alpha'' for a similar effect.


Piano

*
prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for p ...
, i.e., introducing foreign objects into the workings of the piano to change the sound quality *
string piano String piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell (1897–1965) to collectively describe those pianistic extended techniques in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, instead of or in addition to str ...
, i.e., striking, plucking, or bowing the strings directly, or any other direct manipulation of the strings * resonance effects (whistling, singing or talking into the piano) * silently depressing one or more keys, allowing the corresponding strings to vibrate freely, allowing sympathetic
harmonics 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'', ...
to sound * touching the strings at node points to create
harmonics 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'', ...
* percussive use of different parts of the piano, such as the outer rim ** slamming piano lid or keyboard cover * microtones * use of the palms, fists, or external devices to create tone clusters * use of other materials to strike the keys * pedal noises


Woodwind instruments

* multiphonics *
harmonics 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'', ...
* pitch bends ("lipping") * noisily activating keys without blowing * combination of a mouthpiece of one instrument with the main body of another, for example, using an alto
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
mouthpiece on a standard
trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
. *
flutter-tonguing Flutter-tonguing is a wind instrument tonguing technique in which performers flutter their tongue to make a characteristic "FrrrrrFrrrrr" sound. The effect varies according to the instrument and at what volume it is played, ranging from cooing sou ...
, * breath noises * blowing a disengaged mouthpiece or reed * singing through the instrument while playing * internal muting * key or tone-hole slap – percussive sound made by slapping a key or keys against their tone holes *
circular breathing Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stored ...


Brass instruments

* singing through the instrument while playing * exaggerated brass head-shakes * noisily activating
valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
s without blowing * pitch bends ("lipping") * combination of a mouthpiece of one instrument with the main body of another, for example, using a
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
mouthpiece on a standard bassoon * flutter tonguing *
circular breathing Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stored ...
*
double buzz Split tones are a multiphonic effect on brass instruments. During normal play, the upper and lower lips will vibrate together at the same speed. If, however, the lips are set to vibrate at different speeds two pitches may be perceived. When not don ...
* half-valve playing * unconventional mutes or other foreign objects in the bell (e.g. plumbing parts) * breath noises *
slap tonguing In music, the term ''slap tonguing'' refers to a musician playing a single-reed instrument such as a clarinet or a saxophone employing a technique to produce a popping sound along with the note. The technique The sound is created as a result of ...
* blowing a disengaged mouthpiece


Percussion

* rudimental or "dynamic" double bass on the drum set, using hand rudiments such as double stroke rolls and flam taps and playing them with the feet * stacking 2 or more cymbals, one on top of the other, to change the sound properties of the instrument * bowed vibraphone, cymbals, and gongs * resonance effects (e.g., cymbal played on a timpani; cow bell struck against a bass drum, etc.) * pitch bends on mallet percussion * harmonics * custom-built
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
mallets A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and propor ...
, occasionally made for
vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
or
tubular bell Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
s (and other pitched-percussion in increasingly rare circumstances) which feature more than one mallet-head, and so are capable of producing multiple pitches and difficult chords (though usually only the chords they were designed to play). These mallets are seldom used, and percussionists sometimes make them themselves when they are needed. When implemented, they are usually only used once or twice in an entire work, and are alternated with conventional mallets; usually they are used only when playing a different instrument in each hand. * striking a gong and then inserting the vibrating metal into a tub of water, creating a glissando. * placing a cymbal on a timpani head


Electronic

* added
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
or
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
control *
Turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA sys ...
, such as
scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...
records or otherwise manipulating a record or turntable platter, often done in combination with a
DJ mixer A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys (DJs) to control and manipulate multiple audio signals. Some DJs use the mixer to make seamless transitions from one song to another when they are playing records at a dance clu ...
, to create unique sound effects and rhythms * Using a "
kill switch A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop (E-stop), emergency off (EMO) and as an emergency power off (EPO), is a safety mechanism used to shut off machinery in an emergency, when it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal ...
" on an electric guitar to create quasi-scratching rhythmic sounds. * Circuit bending:
DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
experimenting with electronic keyboards and electronic toys. * playing electric instruments unplugged, or amplifying acoustical parts of normally electronic instruments (e.g. finger noise on the keys) * exploitation of inherent equipment "defects" (e.g., deliberately driving digital equipment into
aliasing In signal processing and related disciplines, aliasing is an effect that causes different signals to become indistinguishable (or ''aliases'' of one another) when sampled. It also often refers to the distortion or artifact that results when ...
; exaggerating hum or hiss coming from speakers,
acoustic feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation which may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for exa ...
, key click on a Hammond organ etc.)


Other instruments

* unusual harmonics *
glissandi 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 ...
, tuner glissando


Notable composers

*
George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...
* Béla Bartók *
Bruno Bartolozzi Bruno Bartolozzi (8 June 1911 – 12 December 1980) was an Italian composer and pioneer in the development of extended techniques for wind instruments. He was born in Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and th ...
*
Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
* Hector Berlioz *
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber ( bapt. 12 August 1644, Stráž pod Ralskem – 3 May 1704, Salzburg) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his employer, Prince-Bishop Karl L ...
*
François-Adrien Boieldieu François-Adrien Boieldieu (, also ) (16 December 1775 – 8 October 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart". His date of birth was also cited as December 15 by his biographer and writer Lucien Augé de Lass ...
*
William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...
* Pierre Boulez *
Glenn Branca Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settleme ...
*
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
*
Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cuban composer, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Family He is the grandson of Cuban composer Ernestina Lecuona y Casado. ...
* John Cage *
Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
* Aaron Cassidy *
Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalism, minimalist music. He is best known for his "g ...
* Henry Cowell * George Crumb * Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac *
Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
*
Stuart Dempster Stuart Dempster (born July 7, 1936 in Berkeley, California) is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improviser, and composer. Biography After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at th ...
* Pascal Dusapin *
John Eaton John Eaton may refer to: * John Eaton (divine) (born 1575), English divine * John Eaton (pirate) (fl. 1683–1686), English buccaneer *Sir John Craig Eaton (1876–1922), Canadian businessman * John Craig Eaton II (born 1937), Canadian businessman ...
*
Robert Erickson Robert Erickson (March 7, 1917 – April 24, 1997) was an American composer. Education Erickson was born in Marquette, Michigan. He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936 to 1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone sys ...
* Julio Estrada *
Carlo Farina Carlo Farina (ca. 1600 – July 1639) was an Italian composer, conductor and violinist of the Early Baroque era. Life Farina was born at Mantua. He presumably received his first lessons from his father, who was '' sonatore di viola'' at ...
*
Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School ...
* Brian Ferneyhough *
Carlo Forlivesi Carlo Forlivesi (born 23 October 1971) is an Italian composer, performer and researcher. Forlivesi was born in Faenza, Emilia-Romagna. He studied at Bologna Conservatory, Milan Conservatory and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Rome ...
* Sofia Gubaidulina * Jonathan Harvey *
Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...
*
Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was an ...
*
Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
*
Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio ''Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima'' ...
*
Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...
*
Tobias Hume Tobias Hume (possibly 1579 – 16 April 1645) was a Scottish composer, viol player and soldier. Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1579 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a prerequisit ...
* Charles Ives * Ben Johnston * Garth Knox *
Panayiotis Kokoras Panayiotis Kokoras ( el, Παναγιώτης Κόκορας; born 1974, Ptolemaida) is a Greek composer and computer music innovator. Kokoras's sound compositions use timbre as the main element of form. His concept of "holophony" describes his ...
* Nikita Koshkin * Sophie Lacaze *
Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...
*
György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...
* Gustav Mahler *
Eric Mandat Eric Paul Mandat (born 1957) is an American clarinetist and composer. Mandat began his clarinet studies under the tutelage of Richard Joiner of the Denver Symphony. He later studied with Lee Gibson, Keith Wilson, D. Stanley Hasty, and Charles ...
*
Joseph Maneri Joseph Gabriel Esther Maneri (February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009), was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son. Boston Microtonal Society In 1988, Maneri founded the Boston Microtonal Society, ...
*
Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordin ...
*
Ken Namba is a Japanese composer, performer and researcher. Biography Namba was born in Hamamatsu. He studied at Toho College of Music. He studied with Kazuaki Ogikubo, Jun Nagao, Tomiko Kohjiba, Carlo Forlivesi and René Staar. His works have been pe ...
*
Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
*
Andrew Norman Andrew Norman (born October 31, 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music whose texturally complex music is influenced by architecture and the visual arts. His string trio '' The Companion Guide to Rome'' (2010), was a runne ...
*
Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Cente ...
* Leo Ornstein *
Sean Osborn Sean Osborn (born 1966) is a former clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a regular substitute in the clarinet section of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has been a student of Stanley Hasty, Frank Kowalsky, and Eric Mandat. Clar ...
*
Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album '' He Poos Clouds''. Palle ...
* Arvo Pärt *
Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...
* Gérard Pesson *
Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...
* Lou Reed * Doina Rotaru * Christopher Rouse *
Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inte ...
* Camille Saint-Saëns * Giacinto Scelsi * John Schneider * Arnold Schoenberg *
Salvatore Sciarrino Salvatore Sciarrino (born 4 April 1947) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. Described as "the best-known and most performed Italian composer" of the present day, his works include ''Quaderno di strada'' (2003) and ''La porta d ...
* Stephen Scott *
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
* Igor Stravinsky *
Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...
*
Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...
* Ken Ueno *
Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Уство́льская , 17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Early years Born in Petrograd, Ustvolskaya studied from 1937 to 1 ...
* Franco Venturini * Heitor Villa-Lobos *
Claude Vivier Claude Vivier ( ; baptised as Claude Roger; 14 April 19487 March 1983) was a Canadian contemporary composer, pianist, poet and ethnomusicologist of Québécois origin. After studying with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, Vivier became an in ...
*
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...
*
Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...
*
Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde c ...
* La Monte Young * Frank Zappa * John Zorn


Notable performers


Bass

*
Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
*
Michael Manring Michael Manring (born June 27, 1960) is an American bass guitarist from the San Francisco Bay Area. Biography Michael Manring was born in Annapolis, Maryland,Tom Mulhern, ''Bass Heroes: Styles, Stories & Secrets of 30 Great Bass Players : from ...
*
Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...
*
Mark Sandman Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...
* Mike Silverman *
Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...


Bassoon

*
Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...


Cello

*
Tom Cora Thomas Henry Corra (September 14, 1953 – April 9, 1998), better known as Tom Cora, was an American cellist and composer, best known for his improvisational performances in the field of experimental jazz and rock. He recorded with John Zorn, ...
* Helen Liebmann *
Rohan de Saram Deshamanya Rohan de Saram (born 9 March 1939) is a British-born Sri Lankan cellist. Until his 30s, he made his name as a classical artist, but has since become renowned for his involvement in and advocacy of contemporary music. He travels widely an ...
*
Frances-Marie Uitti Frances-Marie Uitti (born 1946) is an Americans, American cellist and composer known for her use of extended techniques and performance of contemporary classical music. Tom Service, music criticism, music critic for the ''The Guardian, Guardian'' n ...


Clarinet

*
Tara Bouman Tara Bouman (born 1970 in Leiden) is a Dutch clarinetist. Bouman studied the clarinet at the conservatories of Amsterdam and Rotterdam with Walter Boeijkens and Piet Honingh. She plays the clarinet, bass clarinet, and basset horn. Musicians ...
*
Walter Boeykens Walter, Knight Boeykens (January 6, 1938 – April 23, 2013) was a Belgian conductor and a world-renowned clarinetist. Boeykens' impressive discography, including several critically acclaimed performances, are testimony to his status as one of t ...
*
Guy Deplus Guy Gaston Simon Deplus (29 August 1924 – 14 January 2020) was a French clarinetist. Biography Deplus was born in Vieux-Condé and studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he would later become a professor of clarinet, and receive ...
*
Roberto Paci Dalò Roberto Paci Dalò is an Italian author, composer and musician, film maker and theatre director, sound and visual artist, radio-maker. He is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemblGiardini Pensiliand he has been the artistic d ...
* Eric Dolphy *
Eric Mandat Eric Paul Mandat (born 1957) is an American clarinetist and composer. Mandat began his clarinet studies under the tutelage of Richard Joiner of the Denver Symphony. He later studied with Lee Gibson, Keith Wilson, D. Stanley Hasty, and Charles ...
*
Sean Osborn Sean Osborn (born 1966) is a former clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a regular substitute in the clarinet section of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has been a student of Stanley Hasty, Frank Kowalsky, and Eric Mandat. Clar ...
*
Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on ...
* William O. Smith * Suzanne Stephens *
Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...
*
Evan Ziporyn Evan Ziporyn (b. Chicago, Illinois, December 14, 1959) is an American composer of post-minimalist music with a cross-cultural orientation, drawing equally from classical music, avant-garde, various world music traditions, and jazz. Ziporyn h ...


Drums and percussion

* Burkhard Beins *
Han Bennink Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano. Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...
*
John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove ...
*
Bryan "Brain" Mantia Bryan Kei Mantia (born February 4, 1963), known professionally as Brain, is an American rock drummer. He has played with bands such as Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis, and Godflesh, and with other performers such as Tom Waits, Serj Tankian, Bill ...
* Keith Moon *
Steve Noble ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...
* Steven Schick *
Ruth Underwood Ruth Underwood (born Ruth Komanoff; May 23, 1946) is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of In ...


Flute

* Ian Anderson *
Pierre-Yves Artaud Pierre-Yves Artaud (born 13 July 1946) in Paris, is a French classical flautist.Pierre-Yves Ar ...
* Ian Clarke *
Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...
*
John Fonville John Fonville is a flutist and composer. Fonville specializes in extended techniques on the flute, especially microtonality, and performs on instruments including a complete set of quarter tone ( Kingma system) flutes.Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. '' Grove Music Online''. '' Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The yea ...
* Kathinka Pasveer *
Maggi Payne Maggi ( or ) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. The Maggi company was acquired by Nestlé in 1947. History Early history Julius Maggi (1846–1912 ...
*
Greg Pattillo Greg Pattillo (born July 1, 1977) is an American beatboxing flutist originally from Seattle, but now operating in Brooklyn, New York. He was lauded by ''The New York Times'' as "the best person in the world at what he does." His performance ...


Guitar

* Ichirou Agata *
Cristian Amigo Cristian Amigo (born 1963) is an American composer, improviser, guitarist, sound designer, and ethnomusicologist. His compositional and performing output includes blues and soul, music for the theater, chamber and orchestral music, opera, avant- ...
* Derek Bailey * Syd Barrett *
Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...
*
Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...
*
Herman Li Herman Li (; born 3 October 1976) is a Hong Kong-born British musician who is one of two lead guitarists for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 by Li along with Sam Totman, ...
*
Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has w ...
* Roland Dyens *
Dominic Frasca Dominic Frasca (born 5 April 1967) is a guitarist, originally from Akron, Ohio, USA, but living in New York City since the early 1990s. He began playing hard rock guitar at age 13, but gravitated into classical after finding an ad for classical g ...
* Fred Frith * Synyster Gates * Jonny Greenwood * GP Hall *
Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. Early years The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in Sacramento, California. His l ...
* Jimi Hendrix *
Evan Hirschelman Evan Hirschelman is an American classical guitarist and composer, born in Detroit, Michigan. He is known as a classical composer who incorporates a wide range of musical styles into his writing. His music has been recorded by some of today's most ...
* Martín Irigoyen * Enver İzmaylov * Jonsi *
Kaki King Kaki King (born Katherine Elizabeth King, August 24, 1979) is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and he ...
* Uwe Kropinski *
Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation '' No New York''. I ...
*
Andy McKee Andy McKee (born April 4, 1979, in Topeka, Kansas) is an American fingerstyle guitar player who has released six studio albums, two extended plays, and one live album to date. A number of YouTube videos featuring McKee's highly-technical guitar ...
*
Erik Mongrain Erik Mongrain (born April 12, 1980 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian composer and guitarist. He has a unique and dark acoustic style, with a wide array of different techniques, approaches and textures reminiscent of Michael Hedges. Wide ...
*
Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...
*
Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...
* Jimmy Page * Štěpán Rak *
Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...
*
Preston Reed Preston Reed (born April 13, 1955) is an American fingerstyle guitarist. He is noted for a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that uses the guitar's body as a percussion instrument. Biography Reed learned guitar as a child on ...
*
Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...
*
Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...
*
Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". '' AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...
*
Nigel Tufnel Nigel Tufnel is a fictional character in the 1984 mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap''. In the film, he is the lead guitarist of the rock band Spinal Tap. He was played by actor Christopher Guest. Character biography Nigel Tufnel was born in ...
*
Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...


Harp

*
Carlos Salzedo Carlos Salzedo (6 April 1885 – 17 August 1961) was a French harpist, pianist, composer and conductor. His compositions made the harp into a virtuoso instrument. He influenced many composers with his new ideas for the harp's sounds through his ...
* Marianne Smit


Horn

*
David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.
* Hermann Baumann * Anthony Halstead *
Giovanni Punto Jan Václav Stich, better known as Giovanni Punto (28 September 1746 in Žehušice, Bohemia – 16 February 1803 in Prague, Bohemia) was a Czech horn player and a pioneer of the hand-stopping technique which allows natural horns to play a greater ...
*
David Pyatt David John Pyatt (born 26 September 1973) is a horn player from Watford, England. In 1988, aged 14, he became the then youngest winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. In 1996 Gramophone Magazine announced David Pyatt as th ...
*
Barry Tuckwell Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell, (5 March 1931 – 16 January 2020) was an Australian French horn player who spent most of his professional life in the UK and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn p ...


Oboe

*
Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...
*
Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...


Piano

*
George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...
* Henry Cowell *
Richard Bunger Evans Richard Bunger Evans, also known as Richard Bunger, (born 1942) is an American composer and pianist who worked with John Cage and subsequently wrote "the classic book on John Cage,"American Composers Forum. Member Bio''William C. Harrington'' Re ...
*
Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American- Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) a ...
* Leo Ornstein *
David Tudor David Eugene Tudor (January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. Life and career Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan W ...
*
Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Уство́льская , 17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Early years Born in Petrograd, Ustvolskaya studied from 1937 to 1 ...
* Franco Venturini *
Claude Vivier Claude Vivier ( ; baptised as Claude Roger; 14 April 19487 March 1983) was a Canadian contemporary composer, pianist, poet and ethnomusicologist of Québécois origin. After studying with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, Vivier became an in ...


Saxophone

*
Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...
* Ornette Coleman *
Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...
*
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. '' Grove Music Online''. '' Oxford Music Online''. Retrieved February 1, 2009-. "The yea ...
*
Sam Newsome Sam Newsome (born April 28, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator. His music combines straight-ahead jazz, world music (drawing influences from North Africa and East Asia) and experimental jazz, which uses extended techni ...
*
Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...
*
Ned Rothenberg Ned Rothenberg (born September 15, 1956) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He specializes in woodwind instruments, including the alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). He is known ...
*
Skerik Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, he is a pioneer in a playing style that has been called saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critt ...
*
Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is a Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In additio ...
* John Zorn * Pharoah Sanders *
Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...
*
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...


Trombone

*
Stuart Dempster Stuart Dempster (born July 7, 1936 in Berkeley, California) is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improviser, and composer. Biography After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at th ...
*
Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. Hi ...
* John Kenny * George E. Lewis * Christian Lindberg * Paul Rutherford *Mike Svoboda *Abbie Conant *Dan Blackberg


Tuba

*
Øystein Baadsvik Øystein Baadsvik (born 14 August 1966) is a Norwegian tuba soloist and chamber musician. Born in Trondheim, Norway, he began playing the tuba at the age of fifteen at his school in Trondheim, Norway, and won first prize at eighteen in a Norweg ...
*Robin Hayward *Dan Peck


Trumpet

*
Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
*
Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various ...
*
Håkan Hardenberger Ulf Håkan Hardenberger (born 27 October 1961 in Malmö) is a Swedish trumpeter. Taking up the trumpet at the age of eight under the guidance of hometown teacher Bo Nilsson, Hardenberger pursued further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with ...
*Peter Evans *Nate Wooley


Viola

* John Cale * Garth Knox *
Anne Lanzilotti Leilehua Lanzilotti, in full Anne Victoria Leilehua Lanzilotti, bynames Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Anne Lanzilotti, (born November 5, 1983, Philadelphia, PA), is a Kanaka Maoli composer, sound artist, and scholar of contemporary classical musi ...
*
Ysanne Spevack Ysanne Spevack (born 24 June 1972) is a British-American Jewish composer, conductor and arranger who plays violin, viola and cello, and assorted multi-instruments including mbira, keyboards and guitar. best known for her work recording and tour ...


Violin

*
Alexander Balanescu Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
*
Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...
* Graeme Jennings *
Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices fo ...
* Michael Urbaniak *
Paul Zukofsky Paul Zukofsky (October 22, 1943 – June 6, 2017) was an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music. Career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Paul Zukofsky was the only child of the American objectiv ...


Voice

* Blixa Bargeld *
Cathy Berberian Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henr ...
*
Jaap Blonk Jaap Blonk (born 1953, Woerden) is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist. Blonk is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. Jaap Blonkat Allmusic He studied physics, mathematics, and musicology f ...
* Brian Chippendale * Collegium Vocale Köln * George Fisher *
Diamanda Galás Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, visual artist, and soprano. She has campaigned for AIDS education and the rights of the infected. Galás's commitment to addressing social issues and her involve ...
*
Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...
* Roy Hart * Shelley Hirsch *
Joan La Barbara Joan Linda La Barbara (born June 8, 1947) is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, she is credited w ...
*
Bobby McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is an American folk and jazz singer. He is known for his vocal techniques, such as singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rap ...
*
Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordin ...
* David Moss *
Sainkho Namtchylak Sainkho Namtchylak ( tyv, Сайын-Хөө Намчылак, russian: Сайнхо Намчылак, born 1957) is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan ...
*
Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
*
Maja Ratkje Maja can refer to: Places * Maja, Croatia, a village * Maja, Banten, a subdistrict in Lebak Regency, Banten, Indonesia ** Maja railway station * Maja, West Java, a subdistrict in Majalengka Regency, West Java, Indonesia * Maja River, a tributar ...
*
Demetrio Stratos Efstratios Dimitriou ( el, Ευστράτιος Δημητρίου; 22 April 1945 – 13 June 1979), known professionally as Demetrio Stratos, was a Greek lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, music researcher, and co-founder, frontman and lead singe ...
*
Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...
*
Kazuki Tomokawa Tenji Nozoki (及位典司; born February 16, 1950), best known by the stage name Kazuki Tomokawa (友川 かずき), is a prolific Japanese musician, active in the Japanese music scene since the early 1970s. His music has been used in the films o ...
* Ken Ueno *
Michael Vetter Michael Vetter (18 September 1943 – 7 December 2013) was a German composer, novelist, poet, performer, calligrapher, artist, and teacher. Biography Vetter was born in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of Germany, and received a conventional scho ...
*
Trevor Wishart Trevor Wishart (born 11 October 1946) is an English composer, based in York. Wishart has contributed to composing with digital audio media, both fixed and interactive. He has also written extensively on the topic of what he terms " sonic art", a ...


Other

*
Bradford Reed Bradford Reed is an American multi-instrumentalist, experimental luthier, and member of the avant-garde band King Missile III. In the 1980s he invented the pencilina, a custom made string instrument. Pencilina The pencilina is a custom-made str ...


See also

* List of notable pieces which use extended techniques


References


Further reading

*
Bruno Bartolozzi Bruno Bartolozzi (8 June 1911 – 12 December 1980) was an Italian composer and pioneer in the development of extended techniques for wind instruments. He was born in Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and th ...
; ''New Sounds for Woodwind'', second edition, translated by
Reginald Smith Brindle Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer. Early life Smith Brindle was born in Cuerdon, Lancashire, to Robert and Jane Smith Brindle. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and lat ...
. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. . *
Stuart Dempster Stuart Dempster (born July 7, 1936 in Berkeley, California) is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improviser, and composer. Biography After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at th ...
; ''The Modern Trombone: A Definition of Its Idioms'', The New Instrumentation 3. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979. . * Michael Edward Edgerton; ''The 21st-Century Voice''. The New Instrumentation 9. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2004. . *
Douglas Hill Douglas Arthur Hill (April 6, 1935 – June 21, 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fic ...
.
Extended Techniques for the Horn: A Practical Handbook for Students, Performers and Composers
'. .l. Alfred Music Publishing, 1996. . *
Evan Hirschelman Evan Hirschelman is an American classical guitarist and composer, born in Detroit, Michigan. He is known as a classical composer who incorporates a wide range of musical styles into his writing. His music has been recorded by some of today's most ...
; ''Acoustic Artistry: Tapping, Slapping, and Percussion Techniques for Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar''. Private Lessons (Musicians Institute). Milwaukee: Musicians Institute Press/Hal Leonard, 2011. . * Linda L. Holland and Evan Conlee. ''Easing into Extended Technique'', 5 vols. idgefield, Wash. Con Brio, 1999. * Thomas Howell; ''The Avant-Garde Flute: A Handbook for Composers and Flutists''. The New Instrumentation 2. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974. . * Ruth Inglefield and Lou Ann Neill; ''Writing for the Pedal Harp: A Standardized Manual for Composers and Harpists''. The New Instrumentation 6. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985. . * J. Michael Leonard; ''Extended Technique for the Saxophone''. Wayland, MA : Black Lion Press, 2004. *
Gardner Read Gardner Read (January 2, 1913 in Evanston, Illinois – November 10, 2005 in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts) was an American composer and musical scholar. His first musical studies were in piano and organ, and she also took lessons in coun ...
; ''Contemporary Instrumental Techniques''. New York: Schirmer Books, 1976. . *
Gardner Read Gardner Read (January 2, 1913 in Evanston, Illinois – November 10, 2005 in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts) was an American composer and musical scholar. His first musical studies were in piano and organ, and she also took lessons in coun ...
; ''A Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices''. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969. . *
Philip Rehfeldt Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
; ''New Directions for Clarinet'', revised edition. The New Instrumentation 4. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994. . Reprinted, Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2013. * Jamie Leigh Sampson; ''Contemporary Techniques for the Bassoon: Multiphonics''. Bowling Green, OH: ADJ·ective New Music, LLC, 2014. . * John Schneider; ''The Contemporary Guitar'', revised and enlarged edition. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. . *
Reginald Smith Brindle Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer. Early life Smith Brindle was born in Cuerdon, Lancashire, to Robert and Jane Smith Brindle. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and lat ...
; ''Contemporary Percussion''. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. . * Patricia and Allen Strange; ''The Contemporary Violin''. The New Instrumentation 7. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001. . *
Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...
; ''The Contemporary Contrabass'', new and revised edition. The New Instrumentation 1. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989. .


External links


Shaken Not Stuttered
by
Anne Lanzilotti Leilehua Lanzilotti, in full Anne Victoria Leilehua Lanzilotti, bynames Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Anne Lanzilotti, (born November 5, 1983, Philadelphia, PA), is a Kanaka Maoli composer, sound artist, and scholar of contemporary classical musi ...
. Extended techniques for strings. Includes masterclass videos and notation suggestions.
Cello Map
by Ellen Fallowfield



by Mats Möller


The Orchestra: A User's Manual
by Andrew Hugill with The Philharmonia Orchestra. Includes definitions, descriptions and video interviews of extended techniques for most all common orchestral instruments.
oddmusic
A website dedicated to unique, odd, ethnic, experimental and unusual musical instruments and resources. {{Musical technique Musical performance techniques Contemporary classical music 20th-century classical music