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 aspe ...

, 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 inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

, parts, and performance, 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 family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

is played with a slide, making it one of the few wind instruments capable of glissando or sliding. However, pitches are different harmonics 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 technique In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...

s 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 Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

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 keybo ...

'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 ''Jeux d'eau'' (Italian ''giochi d'acqua'') or "water games", is an umbrella term in the history of gardens for the water features that were introduced into mid-16th century Mannerist Italian gardens. History Pools and fountains had been a f ...

, 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 ''Gaspard de la nuit'' (subtitled ''Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand''), M. 55 is a suite of piano pieces by Maurice Ravel, written in 1908. It has three movements, each based on a poem or ''fantaisie'' from the collection '' ...

when the motive is played down the octave. 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 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

'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. 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