Music theory worksheet · Instrument families
How Instruments Make Sound
Every sound starts with something that vibrates. Match each family to how it makes sound, then answer the questions.
- Grade level
- Grades 2–4
- Time
- About 15 minutes
- Topic
- Instrument families
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Naming the four instrument families, Sorting instruments into families, Explaining how each family makes sound, Describing an instrument
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Match each family to the way it makes sound.
- Your lips buzz into a metal mouthpiece.
- A string shakes when you pluck it or pull a bow across it.
- You hit it, shake it or scrape it.
- Air shakes when you blow across a hole or past a thin reed.
- Circle the right answer.
- A violin player pulls this across the strings.
- A clarinet player blows past this thin piece of cane.
Words on this sheet
StringsBrassa bowa reeda slidea flutehigherlower
Teacher tip
Stretch a rubber band over an open box and pluck it, then blow across the top of a bottle. Kids see and feel the shaking that makes a sound.
How to use it
- Play a short clip of one instrument from each family before the sheet.
- Ask how the sound starts: a string, a reed or air, buzzing lips, or a hit.
- Make the sound first. Clap, sing or play the idea before kids see it on paper.
Watch for
Sorting by what an instrument is made of. Sort by how the sound is made.
Talk about it
- How does this instrument make its sound?
- How did you figure that out?
Take it further
Watch a video of an orchestra and spot where each family sits.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More instrument families worksheets
Grades K–5
Invent an Instrument
Draw a brand new instrument. Then tell how you play it, what family it is in and how it sounds.
Grades 1–3
Instrument Families Sort
Write each instrument from the word bank under its family: strings, woodwinds, brass or percussion.
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