Membranophones? Aerophones? How about strings? Percussion? You need not be a music instructor to benefit from a packet of 24 worksheets that introduce aspiring musicians to the various instrument families.

Handbells and castanets. Triangles and timpani. Trumpets and trombones. As part of their study of instruments, young musicians label, trace and color the parts of seven instruments. Also included in the resource packet are tracing...

Here's a word scramble activity that asks kids to identify a series of instruments and then transpose the circled letters to reveal the name of the world's oldest playable musical instrument.

Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical lesson, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students discuss the...

Using graphics, and an easy-to-understand format, this resource outlines the different kinds of instruments and their characteristics. This presentation could be used as an introduction to instruments for learners getting ready to...

Music, culture, social studies, and plant growth all in one! Kids explore the various type of traditional African instruments that are made out of gourds. They then grow their own gourds and use them to create a wide variety of African...

Transforming a deep breath into beautiful musical notes, brass instruments represent an interesting combination of scientific understanding and artistic creativity. Traveling from the mouth piece to the bell, this short video...

Orchestral instruments are the focus of this introductory presentation. Learners identify individual instruments on slide two and then read about the characteristics of six other instruments typically used in orchestral pieces. 

Here is a complete workbook which leads children as they work through the art of making a musical instrument. The instrument made must be a percussion instrument. The workbook is incredibly thorough and does a good job of leading pupils...

Using the San Francisco Children's Orchestra web site, first graders build listening and instrument identification skills. Each child wears head phones, listens to ID, and finds various instruments on the included worksheet. 

Students explore and classify a variety of musical instruments by the way they produce sound. They create a class list of musical instruments, and identify the sounds as vibrations, striking sounds, or blowing air. Students place...

Students explore weather instruments. In this weather lesson, students make rain gauges, anemometers, and barometers following the instructions given in the lesson. Students set up a weather station using their instruments and record and...

Bring some music to your language arts lesson with a reading comprehension activity. Learners read an informational passage about different musical instruments before answering a series of comprehension and vocabulary questions.

Concise, yet complete, this set of seven slides describes with photos and text the different basic instruments for measuring weather factors. After viewing, young meteorologists will be able to talk about how to measure humidity, wind...

From the clarinet to maracas, this PowerPoint covers various instruments in the 4 instrument families: woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion. Descriptions and pictures of instruments in the four families are provided. Slides 19-22...

Students examine the characteristics of the four families of instruments. They read an eBook, unscramble instruments and categorize them in the correct families, take a quiz, and explore the San Francisco Symphony website.

How much does the environment affect how and what man creates? Children explore the effect of the environment on primitive man as they research raw materials from a specific location. They use their findings to write a short essay about...

What sound does a piccolo make? What's the difference between a violin and viola? What family does a timpani belong to? Take a tour through the different sections of an orchestra with an interactive reference tool.

In this music instructional activity, students read short excerpts about the instruments that accompany folk music songs. They write 5-10 paragraphs about the use of the banjo and mandolin in folk music and about their differences. They...

Learners design an instrument. In this sound, vibration and pitch lesson, students learn about the characteristics of sound, vibration and pitch.  Learners design a guitar using the assembled craft materials and demonstrate how they...

Middle school meteorologists get acquainted with basic weather instruments: the thermometer, barometer, psychrometer, and anemometer. For each, the question is asked, "Do you think you can make a _______________?" At these points, you...

It's time to get technical! Technical doesn't have to be tricky, though—even in the lower grades. A short video discussing standard PS4C, Information Technologies and Instrumentation, leads you through the surprisingly simple side of...

Did you know that playing music is the brain's equivalent to a full body workout? Learn about how the advancements in the studies of neuroscientists have brought us to a greater understanding of how playing an instrument dramatically...

The French horn is a member of the brass family that is described in this informational video. The musician describes the different parts of the French horn, as well as how it is distinguished amongst other horns. What a fantastic and...