By Lymi

Musical Instruments

Name 35 musical instruments from pictures, with each one's family, how it makes its sound and a feature to spot it by.

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  • A tall wooden case painted dark red and gold, filled with rows of silver metal pipes, high on the wall of a Gothic church.

    Pipe organ

  • A boxy instrument with a black-and-white keyboard on one side, pleated folds in the middle and rows of small buttons, resting on a wooden stage.

    Accordion

  • A small flat rectangular instrument with a shiny metal cover and a row of holes along one edge, lying on a wooden table.

    Harmonica

  • A long fretted neck attached to a round body with a pale skin head and metal hooks around the rim, on a grey background.

    Banjo

  • A small wooden instrument shaped like a figure eight, with four strings, a round sound hole and a fretted neck, on a grey background.

    Ukulele

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ViolinA small varnished wooden instrument with four strings, a curled scroll at the top and two f-shaped holes, standing upright on a grey background.
Bowed strings. The smallest and highest-pitched of the violin family: four strings, played resting under the chin.
CelloA large reddish-brown wooden instrument with four strings, f-shaped holes and a thin metal spike at the bottom, standing upright on a grey background.
Bowed strings. Played sitting down: the player holds it between the knees, and it rests on a metal spike called the endpin.
Double bassA very tall pale wooden instrument with sloping shoulders, f-shaped holes and four strings, standing on a parquet floor against a white wall.
Bowed strings. The largest and lowest-pitched bowed instrument in the orchestra; its shoulders slope down from the neck.
HarpA tall frame with a gilded carved column, a curved neck and many long vertical strings, on a grey background.
Plucked strings. A concert pedal harp usually has 47 strings and seven pedals that raise or lower the pitch.
Acoustic guitarA wooden instrument with six strings, a round sound hole and a long fretted neck, lying on a crumpled light blue sheet.
Plucked strings. Six strings over a hollow body, which makes it loud enough to play without an amplifier.
Electric guitarA solid red-to-orange body with a pearly white plate, metal bars under the strings and a long fretted neck, on a stand by a grey wall.
Plucked strings. Magnetic pickups under the strings turn their vibration into an electric signal, so it needs an amplifier.
FluteA long, thin silver tube with many keys and a small mouth hole near one end, lying diagonally on a cream background.
Woodwind, even though it is usually metal. Held sideways; the player blows across a hole instead of into a reed.
RecorderA straight black tube with white rings, a white beak-shaped mouthpiece and a row of finger holes, standing upright on a grey background.
Woodwind. The player blows straight into a whistle-like mouthpiece and covers finger holes, plus one thumb hole at the back; a common first instrument at school.
ClarinetA straight black tube with silver keys, a narrow mouthpiece at the top and a flared end at the bottom, on a white background.
Woodwind with a single reed on its mouthpiece. A straight, usually black tube that ends in a flared bell.
OboeA slim black tube with many silver keys and a small flared end at the bottom, standing upright on a grey background.
Woodwind played with a double reed, two thin blades of cane tied together. Orchestras usually tune to the oboe's A.
BassoonA tall reddish-brown wooden tube with metal keys and a thin curved metal pipe sticking out near the top, on a grey background.
Woodwind with a double reed on a curved metal pipe. Its tube is about 2.5 metres long, folded in two, and plays the bass line.
SaxophoneA curved brass instrument with many keys, a bent neck ending in a black mouthpiece and an upturned bell, on a grey background.
Woodwind with a single reed, even though its body is brass. Adolphe Sax invented it and patented it in 1846.
TrumpetA shiny brass instrument with three piston valves, looped tubing and a flared bell, seen from the side on a white background.
Brass. The player buzzes the lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece, and three valves change the note. It plays the highest part in the brass section.
TromboneA long brass instrument with a flared bell and a long U-shaped sliding tube, standing on a black stand against a white background.
Brass. Instead of valves, the player moves a long slide in and out to change the note.
French hornBrass tubing coiled into a circle, with rotary valves and a very wide flared bell, on a white background.
Brass. Long tubing coiled into a circle ends in a wide bell, and the player's right hand rests inside the bell.
TubaA large upright brass instrument with thick coiled tubing, three valves and a wide bell pointing up, on a white background.
Brass. The largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument, held upright with the bell pointing up.
Drum kitA set of red cylinders of different sizes with white heads and several brass discs on chrome stands, arranged on a grey rug in a room.
Percussion. Drums and cymbals played by one person with sticks and foot pedals: one pedal beats the bass drum, another closes the hi-hat.
TimpaniTwo large round copper-coloured bowls with pale skins stretched over the top, on iron stands, against a wooden wall.
Percussion. Large copper kettledrums tuned to exact notes, on modern ones with a pedal, and played with soft-headed sticks.
XylophoneA row of wooden bars of decreasing length on a frame, with two round-headed beaters lying across them, on a blue-green background.
Percussion. Wooden bars of different lengths struck with mallets; the name is Greek for 'wood sound'.
TriangleA bent steel rod hanging from a string loop, with a straight metal beater lying across it, on a pale grey background.
Percussion. A steel rod bent into three sides and left open at one corner, struck with a metal beater for a bright ringing note.
CymbalsTwo large round metal plates with a raised dome in the centre, leaning upright on a red stand.
Percussion. Thin round metal plates, usually bronze: a pair can be clashed together, or a single one struck with a stick.
TambourineA round wooden frame with a worn skin stretched across it and pairs of small metal discs set into the rim, on a museum table.
Percussion. A shallow frame drum with pairs of small metal jingles in the rim, shaken or struck with the hand.
Grand pianoA large black and rosewood instrument with a long curved body, a propped-open lid, a black-and-white keyboard and carved legs, in a marble-floored hall.
Keyboard. Each key moves a felt hammer that strikes the strings, which lie flat under the lid. A modern piano has 88 keys.
Pipe organA tall wooden case painted dark red and gold, filled with rows of silver metal pipes, high on the wall of a Gothic church.
Keyboard. Air under pressure flows through pipes chosen from the keyboards and from a pedalboard played with the feet.
AccordionA boxy instrument with a black-and-white keyboard on one side, pleated folds in the middle and rows of small buttons, resting on a wooden stage.
Keyboard and wind at once: bellows push air through metal reeds. Piano keys for the right hand, bass buttons for the left.
HarmonicaA small flat rectangular instrument with a shiny metal cover and a row of holes along one edge, lying on a wooden table.
Wind. Each hole leads to small metal reeds that sound when the player blows out or draws in air.
BanjoA long fretted neck attached to a round body with a pale skin head and metal hooks around the rim, on a grey background.
Plucked strings. A thin head stretched over a round frame gives a bright, twangy sound; on the five-string banjo a short fifth string starts partway up the neck.
UkuleleA small wooden instrument shaped like a figure eight, with four strings, a round sound hole and a fretted neck, on a grey background.
Plucked strings. A small four-string relative of the guitar, developed in Hawaii in the 1880s from instruments brought by Portuguese immigrants.
MandolinA teardrop-shaped wooden instrument with an inlaid sound hole, strings in pairs and a short neck, on a grey background.
Plucked strings. Eight metal strings in four pairs, tuned like a violin and played with a pick; the classic Italian kind has a rounded back.
SitarA long wooden neck with arched metal bars and many tuning pegs, joined to a round painted body, standing on a grey background.
Plucked strings from India, used in Hindustani classical music. A long neck with curved frets, a gourd body and extra strings that ring in sympathy.
BagpipesA tartan cloth bag with three black pipes on top, a separate pipe hanging below and black tassels, lying on a beige carpet.
Wind with reeds. A bag squeezed under the arm keeps the air flowing: one pipe with finger holes plays the tune, the drones each hold one note.
BanduraA rounded wooden body with a sound hole, a short neck ending in a scroll and a fan of short strings along one edge, hanging on a dark red panel with embroidered cloth.
Plucked strings from Ukraine, mixing features of a lute and a zither. Besides the strings on the neck, many short treble strings run along the edge of the body.
BalalaikaA dark wooden instrument with a flat three-cornered body, a small sound hole and a long neck, hanging on a log wall.
Plucked strings. A Russian folk instrument with a triangular wooden body and three strings.
DjembeA red wooden body that narrows in the middle like a cup on a stand, with a white skin head held by black ropes, on a white background.
Percussion from West Africa. A goblet-shaped drum with a skin head tightened by ropes, played with bare hands.
DidgeridooA long wooden tube painted with dotted patterns and a lizard figure, leaning against a white wall.
Wind. Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia developed it at least 1,000 years ago from eucalyptus hollowed out by termites; the player's lips drone into it, often with circular breathing.

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A teardrop-shaped wooden instrument with an inlaid sound hole, strings in pairs and a short neck, on a grey background.

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Published September 28, 2026