Quartet facts for kids
A quartet is simply a group of four. In music, a quartet means four people playing or singing together. They each have a different part to create a full piece of music. Think of a string quartet or a barbershop quartet.
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Classical Music Quartets
What is a String Quartet?
In classical music, a very common type of quartet is the string quartet. It is a small group of instruments often used in chamber music. A string quartet usually has two violins, one viola, and one cello.
These instruments are chosen because they can play notes similar to human voices. The two violins play the high parts, like a soprano and alto singer. The viola plays the middle part, like a tenor. The cello plays the low part, like a bass singer.
Many famous composers wrote string quartets. These include Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Dmitri Shostakovich. The Italian composer Luigi Boccherini wrote over 100 string quartets!
Sometimes, string quartets use different instruments. For example, some have one violin, two violas, and one cello. Others might have one violin, one viola, and two cellos.
What is a Piano Quartet?
Another popular classical quartet is the piano quartet. This group has a violin, a viola, a cello, and a piano.
Composers like Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn wrote important piano quartets. Mozart, Dvořák, and Gabriel Fauré also created beautiful pieces for this group.
Other Instrument Quartets
Wind quartets can be set up in a few ways. Sometimes, a wind instrument replaces the first violin in a string quartet. So, it would be a wind instrument, violin, viola, and cello.
Other wind quartets are made of four different wind instruments. A common one is the woodwind quartet. It has a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, and a bassoon.
An example of four of the same wind instruments is the saxophone quartet. This group often has a soprano saxophone, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone, and a baritone saxophone. Sometimes, a second alto saxophone or a bass saxophone is used instead.
What is a Vocal Quartet?
A vocal quartet is a group of four singers. They might sing without instruments (called a cappella), or with a piano. They can also sing with a larger group, like a choir.
Composers like Brahms and Schubert wrote many songs for four voices. These were popular long ago. Vocal quartets are also found in bigger classical works. You can hear them in operas, choral pieces, and symphonies. For example, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has a vocal quartet.
Vocal quartets usually have these combinations:
- For mixed groups: Soprano, alto (or mezzo-soprano), tenor, and bass (or baritone).
- For male groups: 1st tenor, 2nd tenor, baritone, and bass.
- For female groups: 1st soprano, 2nd soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto.
- For barbershop style: Tenor, lead, baritone, and bass.
Baroque Quartets
The baroque quartet is a type of music from the Baroque period. It is similar to a trio sonata but has four music parts. These parts are played by three solo instruments and a basso continuo. The solo instruments could be strings or wind instruments. A famous example is Telemann's Paris quartets.
Jazz Quartets
Quartets are very popular in jazz and jazz fusion music. A jazz quartet often has a horn instrument (like a clarinet, saxophone, or trumpet). It also has a chord instrument (like an electric guitar, piano, or Hammond organ). Then there's a bass instrument (like a double bass or bass guitar) and a drum kit.
Sometimes, a second horn replaces the chord instrument. Or, two chord instruments might be used, like a piano and an electric guitar.
Popular Music Quartets
In 20th-century Western popular music, a "vocal quartet" usually means four singers of the same gender. This is common for barbershop quartets and Gospel quartets.
Some well-known female vocal quartets include The Chiffons and The Chordettes. Famous male vocal quartets include The Oak Ridge Boys and The Four Tops. Mixed-gender vocal quartets include The Mamas & the Papas.
The quartet setup is also very common in pop and rock music. A standard pop and rock quartet has two electric guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum kit. Sometimes, a keyboard instrument (like an organ or synthesizer) or a solo instrument (like a saxophone) takes the place of the second electric guitar.
Folk Music Quartets
Russian Folk Quartets
A Russian folk-instrument quartet often has a bayan, a prima balalaika, a prima or alto domra, and a contrabass balalaika. One example is the Quartet Moskovskaya Balalaika.
Other groups might not have a bayan. They could have a prima domra, a prima balalaika, an alto domra, and a bass balalaika. Or, two prima domras, a prima balalaika, and a bass balalaika.
See also
In Spanish: Cuarteto de música para niños
