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Musical Instruments Trivia Questions

Total Questions: 111

What woodwind instrument, known in Greek as klarino, is featured in Greek cafe music alongside the bouzouki?

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clarinet

What type of instrument is the recorder, as played by Herbie Mann?

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flute

What instrument is famously played by Buddy Berrigan, Miles Davis, and Harry James?

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trumpet

What type of instrument, famously owned by Paganini, was crafted by the Guarneri family?

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violin

What instrument, named by its inventor B. Cristofori in 1709, translates to 'harpsichord with soft and loud'?

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piano

What type of violin, stolen in 1936 and supposedly sold for $100, was valued at $1 million in 1987?

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stradivarius

Which instrument, also known as the blues harp, did Sonny Terry play in a whooping style?

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harmonica

What instrument, other than the concertina, is nicknamed 'squeeze-box'?

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accordion

What instrument, named after the 'March King', is essentially a helicon with a detachable bell?

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sousaphone

What musical instrument is known as un hautbois in French?

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oboe

Which 8-letter Greek stringed instrument resembles a mandolin?

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bouzouki

What is the name of the small flute with 6 finger holes mainly used in drum corps and military bands?

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fife

What accordion-like musical instrument did Charles Wheatstone invent, in addition to the stereoscope?

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concertina

What is the name of the wide end of a trumpet?

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bell

What device can you attach to the neck of a guitar to raise its pitch?

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capo

From which animal's tail are the hairs traditionally taken to make a violin bow?

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horse

In the context of brass instruments, what part is referred to as the pavillon?

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bell

What are these wood percussion instruments, fastened to the thumb and clicked together?

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castanets

What is the name of the triangular Russian instrument that is typically played with fingers or a leather plectrum?

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balalaika

What instrument, when played in its Hawaiian or steel type, is known for producing a sweet, gliding tone?

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guitar

What double reed woodwind, available in French and German types, is similar to the oboe?

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bassoon

What are the small Afro-Cuban drums that are yoked in pairs and usually tuned greater than thirds apart?

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bongos

Which double-reed instrument is used for tuning the rest of the orchestra by sounding an A?

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oboe

What musical instrument of the 'fipple' type is blown like a whistle?

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flute

What is the largest member of the violin family after the double bass?

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cello

What 3-valve tuba, also known as a helicon, wraps around the player's body and has a flaring bell?

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sousaphone

Which musical instrument is played by Annie Whitehead, Kid Ory, and Tommy Dorsey?

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trombone

What musical instrument uses a metal bar drawn along its strings in the pedal steel variety?

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guitar

Which musical instrument is played tilted back on the right shoulder, with the shortest of its 47 strings closest to the body?

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harp

Which woodwind instrument has been described as 'a clarinet with a cold in its chest'?

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bassoon

Which instrument has 7 foot pedals at its base that control the pitch of its strings?

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harp

What simple zither-like instrument, despite its misleading name, was not intended for use in a vehicle?

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autoharp

Which instrument's name, derived from Greek words meaning 'wood sound', refers to its tuned wooden bars?

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xylophone

What small type of instrument, used during the 16th & 17th centuries, was known as a virginal?

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harpsichord

What 10-letter instrument is associated with Lionel Hampton?

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vibraphone

In Latin, the name tuba is derived from the word for which smaller brass instrument?

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trumpet

Which musical instrument is famously played by both 'Weird Al' Yankovic and Lawrence Welk?

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accordion

What is the main bass instrument in the woodwind section of an orchestra?

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bassoon

What is the name of the highest-pitched woodwind instrument in an orchestra that is about half the size of a flute?

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piccolo

What is a 7-letter musical instrument that resembles a sweet potato and is played by blowing into it?

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ocarina

What upright keyboard instrument is modeled after a giraffe's neck in its unique design?

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piano

What Scottish instrument has a chanter for the melody and other tubes that drone out single notes?

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bagpipes

What is the Hindi-named musical instrument known for typically having more than three strings, despite its name suggesting otherwise?

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sitar

Which musical instrument includes the Irish union and the French musette among its bellows types?

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bagpipes

Which instrument was played by Duane Eddy, Wes Montgomery, and Charlie Byrd?

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guitar

What is the name of a woodwind instrument that does not have a reed and is commonly made of metal?

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flute

What is the name of the xylophone that originated in Africa and may derive from the Kimbundu language?

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marimba

What is the pear-shaped instrument, known for its use in bluegrass bands, that derives its name from 'small lute'?

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mandolin

What brass instrument, classified as a woodwind, was patented in Paris in 1846?

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saxophone

In Latin America, what large xylophone-like instrument can accommodate 3 or 4 musicians playing together?

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marimba

What Italian plucked stringed instrument has Neopolitan and the rarer Milanese as two types?

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mandolin

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