The Orchestra

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.

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. 

Are the instruments in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in the same family as those in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue? Elementary musicians work on their music theory and their instrumental ear as they listen to clips of famous...

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 students getting ready to...

See how the number of orchestra members increased from the Baroque period through the Classical, up to the Romantic. You can print each orchestra seating chart.

Students listen to and examine a recording of the opera Don Pasquale and study the various musical instruments in an orchestra. They discuss the difference between a symphony orchestra and an opera orchestra. Finally they play the music...

Test your knowledge of instruments of the orchestra with this interactive hangman game. Click on letters to guess the mystery word!

Students construct simple musical instruments. In this music lesson, students read the text Max Found Two Sticks and construct their own instruments from classroom materials.

Students will enjoy this interactive website. There are many musical topics to explore while having fun. Learning how to make your own instrument, playing games and listening to music are just a few of the things you can do here.

Students will enjoy this interactive website. There are many musical topics to explore while having fun. Learning how to make your own instrument, playing games and listening to music are just a few of the things you can do here.