An instrument is any utensil that is used to carry out some type of activity, usually a manual activity. The term instrument is also used to refer to a musical object. Finally, sometimes we speak of an instrument in a figurative sense and in these cases no reference is made to any material object.
Instruments that we handle with our hands
A surgeon needs to use his surgical instruments, that is, a set of tools or instruments that are used to perform a successful operation. A farmer also uses iron tools and a soldier has tools for his military activity. These examples remind us that many human activities require specialized material that is used manually. You could say that an instrument is a specific type of object. In this sense, a laser device used by a doctor is an object but it is not an instrument, and the same is true of a tractor used by a farmer.
Musical instruments
There is a great variety of ways to make music and one way to classify and understand music is through the instruments used, which are classified according to the mechanism used to produce the sounds. There are string musical instruments (piano, violin, guitar, cello or double bass), wind instruments (saxophone, clarinet, flute, accordion or trumpet) or percussion (drum, drums, xylophone or zambomba). On the other hand, there are keyboard instruments that are wind and others that are stringed. Keep in mind that there is no single classification system for musical instruments.
Instrument in a figurative sense
The word is an instrument for communication. The look is an instrument for seduction. Generosity is an instrument to improve personal relationships. The above statements remind us that not all instruments are musical or are used manually. Thus, when something immaterial such as words, ideas or feelings serve to change a reality, they become a useful tool, that is, an instrument.
The act of instrumentalizing
It must be remembered that there is the verb instrumentalize, which is used to mention that a person or a circumstance is used as if it were an instrument. It is used in a normally derogatory sense and amounts to maneuvering against something or someone. If we say that someone is instrumentalizing a company for some purpose, we are indicating that there is some kind of manipulation or some hidden interest.
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