Instruments

Meet the instruments

Take an instrument apart, tap each piece to hear what it does, and find out how it makes its sound.

Strings

Sound from a vibrating string, bowed or plucked.

Worldwide

Guitar

Six strings, frets and a hollow body: the instrument in almost every band and many living rooms.

Indian

Sitar

A long-necked lute with curved frets and sympathetic strings that shimmer on their own.

Western and Indian

Violin

The smallest and highest member of the string family, played with a bow, and at home in both Western orchestras and Carnatic concerts.

Keyboards

Press a key and a hammer, reed or pipe makes the note.

Indian

Harmonium

A hand-pumped keyboard of brass reeds, the heart of bhajans, qawwali and natya sangeet.

Western

Piano

Eighty-eight keys, each a lever that throws a felt hammer at a string.

Woodwind

Air vibrating inside a tube, set going by your breath.

Indian

Bansuri

A simple bamboo flute with six or seven holes, linked with Krishna and loved in Hindustani music.

Western

Flute

A silver tube you blow across, the bird of the orchestra.

Brass

Your buzzing lips are the sound; the metal tube makes it ring.

Western

Trumpet

The highest brass instrument: buzzing lips, three valves and a bright, ringing bell.

Percussion

Struck, shaken or scraped.

Western

Snare drum

The crisp, rattling drum at the heart of the drum kit and the marching band.

Indian

Tabla

A pair of hand drums, the dayan and bayan, that can speak in syllables called bols.

Voice

The instrument everyone is born with.

Worldwide

Voice

The instrument everyone carries: lungs, vocal folds and the spaces of your head and chest.

Where next?

Start here →Pick your age and instrument and get a path.Learn →Lessons that unlock one by one.Music games →Pitch, notes, scales and echo games.