A tone hole is an opening in the body of a

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

which, when alternately closed and opened, changes the pitch of the sound produced. Tone holes may serve specific purposes, such as a trill hole or register hole. A tone hole is, "in wind instruments a hole that may be stopped by the

finger A finger is a prominent digit (anatomy), digit on the forelimbs of most tetrapod vertebrate animals, especially those with prehensile extremities (i.e. hands) such as humans and other primates. Most tetrapods have five digits (dactyly, pentadact ...

, or a key, to change the pitch of the tone produced."William Lines Hubbard, ed. (1908). ''The American history and encyclopedia of music, Volume 10'', p.532. Squire. The resonant frequencies of the air column in a pipe are inversely proportional to the pipe's ''effective length''. In other words, a shorter pipe produces higher notes. For a pipe with no tone holes but open at both ends, the effective length is the physical length of the pipe plus a little more for the small volumes of air just beyond the ends of the pipe that are also involved in the resonance. An open hole anywhere along the middle of the pipe shortens the pipe's effective length and therefore raises the pitch of the notes it produces. The closer an open hole is to the blowing end, the shorter the remaining effective length is and the more it raises the pitch. Generally, a hole in a given position doesn't reduce the effective length quite as much as cutting the pipe at that position would, and the smaller the hole, the less it reduces the effective length when open. Closing the hole increases the effective length and lowers the pitch again. However, a pipe with a closed tone hole is not acoustically identical to a pipe with no hole; the shape of the fingertip or pad that closes the hole modifies the pipe's internal volume and effective length. When there are multiple tone holes, the first (closest to the blowing end) open tone hole usually has the largest influence on the pipe's effective length. However, closing holes below the first open hole without closing the first hole can also lower the pitch significantly; such ''cross fingerings'' may often be useful. Generally, the pitch and

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

of the notes produced will depend on the positions, sizes, heights, and shapes of all the tone holes, both open and closed. Theoretical models allow these effects to be calculated with some accuracy, but the design of tone holes remains to some degree a matter of trial and error. Most

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s rely on tone holes to produce different pitches. Two common exceptions are the slide whistle and the overtone flutes. Most

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

s use valves or a slide instead of tone holes, with the

cornett The cornett (, ) is a lip-reed wind instrument that dates from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. Although smaller and larger sizes were made in both straight and curved forms, surviving cornetts are most ...

, the

ophicleide The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...

, the keyed trumpet, and the rare keyed

bugle The bugle is a simple signaling brass instrument with a wide conical bore. It normally has no valves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to its natural harmonic notes, and pitch is controlled entirely by varying the air a ...

as exceptions. The modern reproduction of the

natural trumpet A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series. History :''See: Clarion'' The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...

, called the baroque trumpet, are fitted with tone holes (called vent holes) to correct the out of tune notes (written) B♭_4, F_5, A_5, and B♭₅.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tone Hole Acoustics Woodwind instrument parts and accessories Musical tuning Holes

See also

References