The instruments of the aerophone family are those whose tone is generated by means of air set in vibration. The vibrating air is usually contained within the body of the instrument, like a pipe, as is the case for flutes and trumpets.

Instruments whose sound is produced by the material of the instrument itself which is stiff and elastic enough to vibrate without requiring a stretched membrane of strings belong to the family of idiophones. Cymbals and bells are good examples of such instruments.

In musical classification systems, the family of chordophones includes instruments with strings as tone-producing elements that are stretched between fixed points. The strings vibrate when they are plucked, struck or scraped, like the violin or harp.

The family of membranophones covers instruments from which sound is produced mainly by the vibration of a stretched membrane, such as the drum.