Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Musical Instruments Woodwind Instruments

For Teachers 3rd
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about woodwind instruments. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
Other

Discover Eso: Musical Instruments: Woodwinds

For Students 9th - 10th
Website with information on four woodwind instruments: clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and flute. Students learn about the history and qualities of the instruments and can listen to audio excerpts of the instruments being played.
Website
The Orchestra

The Orchestra: A User's Manual Woodwind Ranges

For Students 9th - 10th
Easily review the ranges of all of the woodwind instruments. The chart shows the written pitch and the sounding pitch. There are also comments about some of the instruments ranges.
Graphic
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Musical Instruments

For Students 9th - 10th
Homepage for a hypertext about the different families of musical instruments. From this page, users can retrieve information on a the acoustics of a variety of specific instruments: stringed instruments, woodwind instruments, brass...
Handout
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Piccolo, Woodwind Instrument

For Students 3rd - 5th
Read about the woodwind family and how it is divided. Learn about the piccolo and how it is played. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the piccolo on its own and with the orchestra.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Woodwind Instrument

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Wikipedia provides an overview of woodwind instruments and discusses the three types of woodwind instruments and the difference between brass instruments and woodwind instruments.
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center: Woodwind Instruments and Pitch

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this lesson, students will enjoy making their own woodwind instruments. They will also discover how the instruments change pitch based on the length of the airpipe.
Graphic
Yale University

Yale Collection of Musical Instruments: Wind Instruments

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about woodwind instruments in this image gallery with descriptions of each instrument in this page from the musical instruments collection of Yale University.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: Woodwind Instruments

For Students 3rd - 8th
This site contains information about various musical woodwind instruments like the flute, clarinet, and oboe. Learn about their styles of music and how they work.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: How Woodwind Instruments Work

For Students 3rd - 8th
On this website, students can explore how woodwind musical instruments work. Explore how wind vibrations make sounds.
Website
University of Michigan

University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Recorder

For Students 9th - 10th
The University of Michigan provides general information on the "portable and accessible" woodwind instrument called the recorder. Includes several references for further research and links to information on duct flutes and transverse...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Instrument Families of the Orchestra: Woodwind

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson helps young scholars identify the woodwind family of instruments in an orchestra by sight and sound. The students will also identify which instruments have a single reed, double reed, or contain no reed.
Handout
Other

The Woodwind Fingering Guide: Bassoon Fingering Charts

For Students 9th - 10th
This site offers everything you will ever want to know about bassoon fingering. It covers the fingering scheme, basic fingerings, alternate fingerings, trill fingering, and contrabassoon fingering. For the creative bassoonist, you are...
Interactive
Quia

Quia: Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction "Musical Hangman"

For Students 3rd - 8th
Test your knowledge of instruments of the orchestra with this interactive hangman game. Click on letters to guess the mystery word!
Website
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids

For Students 3rd - 8th
This interactive site offers students resource for learning about composers, their works, the logistics of orchestra seating, the functions of different instruments, and the like.
Handout
Music Education

Learn About Instruments: The Winds

For Students 3rd - 8th
This tutorial teaches students about the flute, piccolo, and saxophone. It features sound clips so that you can hear examples of each instrument being played.
Article
Mocomi & Anibrain Digital Technologies

Mocomi: Types of Musical Instruments

For Students 2nd - 8th
Provides a list of musical instruments and how they work.
Interactive
PBS

Classics for Kids: Instruments of the Orchestra

For Students 3rd - 6th
See and hear the instruments of the orchestra.
Interactive
New York Times

New York Times: Crossword Puzzle: Musical Instruments

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An interactive and printable crossword puzzle developed by the New York Times Learning Network. The theme of this puzzle is Musical Instruments.
Website
University of Michigan

University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Saxophone

For Students 9th - 10th
The University of Michigan provides general information on the saxophone, a single-reed woodwind instrument, invented by Adolphe Sax. This resource also includes images and references for further reading and research.
Website
University of Michigan

University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Bassoon

For Students 9th - 10th
This essay provides general and historical information on the woodwind instrument, the bassoon, which is a "larger and lower-voiced version of the oboe." Included are references to famous musicians who worked with the bassoon and several...
Website
University of Michigan

University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Clarinet

For Students 9th - 10th
This article, providing general information on the clarinet -- "a very popular woodwind instrument which originated in Islamic and Asian countries" -- includes an image of a clarinet, several references for reading and research, and a...
Website
University of Michigan

The University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Transverse Flute

For Students 9th - 10th
In addition to providing general information on the transverse flute and references for further reading and research, this lesson includes an audio file so that you can hear "the sound of a baroque wooden flute."
Website
PBS

Classics for Kids: Musical Instruments

For Students 3rd - 8th
An A-to-Z directory of all the instruments and tools of the orchestra. Each entry includes a description, a picture, and a sound sample.