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Quizzes > Entertainment & Pop Culture > Music

Test Your Musical Instrument Trivia: Name Every Family

Dive into our instrument trivia quiz and ace musical families!

Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper cut illustration of string woodwind brass percussion instruments on teal background for musical instrument quiz

Use this musical instrument trivia quiz to spot each family - strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion - and match instruments to where they belong. You'll move through quick questions that mix common picks with a few curveballs, so you can see gaps and learn a cool fact or two as you play.

Which of these instruments is a member of the string family?
Clarinet
Trumpet
Violin
Timpani
The violin produces sound through the vibration of its strings when bowed or plucked, making it a quintessential member of the string family. Woodwinds like the clarinet produce sound via an air column and reed, brass instruments like the trumpet use lip vibration in a mouthpiece, and percussion instruments like the timpani produce sound through striking a membrane. Strings include instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. .
Which instrument produces sound by the vibration of metal bars struck by mallets?
Glockenspiel
Harp
Clarinet
Marimba
The glockenspiel consists of tuned metal bars arranged like a keyboard and struck by mallets, classifying it as a metallophone in the percussion family. The marimba has wooden bars, the clarinet is a woodwind, and the harp is a string instrument. The bright, bell-like sound of the glockenspiel is distinct among percussion instruments. .
Which of the following is a double-reed woodwind instrument?
Oboe
Trumpet
Saxophone
Flute
The oboe uses two reeds tied together that vibrate against each other to produce its characteristic nasal tone. A flute is an edge-tone instrument without a reed, saxophones use a single reed, and trumpets are brass instruments using lip vibration. The double reed is essential for the unique timbre of instruments like the oboe and bassoon. .
Which brass instrument uses a slide instead of valves to change pitch?
Tuba
Trumpet
French horn
Trombone
The trombone is unique among common brass instruments for its use of a telescoping slide to vary the length of its tubing and change pitch. Trumpets, French horns, and tubas use valves to reroute air through additional tubing sections. The slide mechanism gives the trombone its distinctive glissando capability. .
Which instrument is classified as a membranophone?
Clarinet
Piano
Vibraphone
Snare drum
Membranophones produce sound primarily by vibrating a stretched membrane. The snare drum has a drumhead (membrane) that is struck to create sound. The vibraphone is a pitched percussion instrument with metal bars, the clarinet is a woodwind, and the piano is a stringed keyboard instrument. Drums like the snare fall directly under the membranophone category. .
Which member of the woodwind family has a conical bore and is pitched in E-flat?
Alto saxophone
Oboe
Flute
Bassoon
The alto saxophone features a conical bore and is commonly pitched in E-flat, giving it a distinctive mid-range voice in ensembles. The oboe and bassoon also have conical bores but are pitched in C and bass ranges, respectively. The flute has a cylindrical bore and is pitched in C. These bore shapes and pitches distinguish woodwind instruments from one another. .
Which of these instruments uses a keyboard but produces sound through tuned metal bars struck by hammers?
Xylophone
Piano
Harpsichord
Celesta
The celesta has a keyboard like a piano, but each key activates a hammer that strikes a metal bar, creating its ethereal, bell-like tone. The piano strikes strings, the xylophone is played directly with mallets on wooden bars, and the harpsichord plucks its strings. This unique mechanism sets the celesta apart in the keyboard family. .
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Study Outcomes

  1. Identify Instrument Families -

    Apply your knowledge of musical instrument trivia to correctly match various instruments with their respective families, from strings to brass and woodwinds to percussion.

  2. Distinguish Woodwind and Brass Instruments -

    Analyze sound production methods to differentiate between woodwind and brass instruments in an instrument quiz setting.

  3. Classify Percussion Instruments -

    Categorize percussion instruments based on how they produce sound and understand their role in orchestral arrangements.

  4. Recall String Instrument Characteristics -

    Demonstrate your grasp of string instrument trivia by recalling key features such as construction materials and playing techniques.

  5. Analyze Instrument Features -

    Use critical listening and visual cues to pinpoint unique characteristics of each instrument, enhancing your ability to ace the musical instruments quiz.

Cheat Sheet

  1. SWBP Mnemonic for Families -

    Remember the four core categories - Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion - with the simple mnemonic "SWBP." This quick trick helps you instantly classify any instrument during your musical instrument trivia session. Many university music departments, like UCLA's Ethnomusicology Program, advocate such memory aids for faster recall.

  2. Chordophone Fundamentals (Strings) -

    Strings vibrate between two fixed points, and the pitch follows the formula f = (1/2L)√(T/μ), where L is string length, T is tension, and μ is linear density. Think of violin, viola, cello to practice: "VVC" (Violin, Viola, Cello) for the main orchestral trio. Research from the Juilliard School confirms that understanding this physics principle deepens your instrument quiz confidence.

  3. Aerophone Acoustics (Woodwinds) -

    Woodwinds produce sound via air columns, with flutes as open pipes (f = nv/2L) and reeds as semi-closed (f = nv/4L). Categorize clarinet (single reed) and oboe (double reed) by remembering "C-O" for clarinet-oboe reed types. The Indiana University School of Music provides detailed schematics showing these length-frequency relationships.

  4. Brass Harmonic Series -

    Brass players change pitch by adjusting lip tension, selecting harmonics modeled by fₙ = n(v/2L). The open”pipe series yields octave, fifth, fourth intervals and so on. Cornell University's acoustics lab demonstrates how these overtones form the bright, bold brass timbre you'll encounter in any musical instruments quiz.

  5. Percussion: Idiophones vs. Membranophones -

    Percussion splits into idiophones (e.g., xylophone - solid body vibrates) and membranophones (e.g., snare drum - stretched membrane vibrates). A handy phrase is "I-M" (Idiophone-Membranophone) to sort marimba from tom-tom. The Percussive Arts Society outlines these distinctions for clear instrument trivia mastery.

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