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Music
Notes, Strings & Symphonies
Instruments, composers and the words written on every score.
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How many strings does a standard violin have?
Instruments Around the World
The orchestra is one tradition among many. These instruments belong to the others.
About this topic
A symphony orchestra represents one region's answer to the question of how to make music together. Other traditions answered it differently, and their instruments are built on different assumptions about tuning, timbre and what a melody is for. These questions cover instruments from several continents, what family each belongs to, and where it comes from. The recurring pattern is that instruments travel and change: the same basic design turns up under different names across trade routes, adapted to local materials and local scales.
Questions & answers
Instruments Around the World: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1The sitar is most closely associated with which country?
- A Indonesia
- B India Correct
- C Japan
- D Egypt
Answer: B. India
Why: Its sympathetic strings vibrate without being played, producing the shimmer around each note. It reached western audiences widely in the 1960s.
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2The koto is the national instrument of which country?
- A Japan Correct
- B Korea
- C Vietnam
- D Thailand
Answer: A. Japan
Why: A long zither with movable bridges, so it is retuned by sliding them rather than by adjusting each string.
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3The djembe drum originates from which region?
- A the Caribbean
- B Central Asia
- C Northern Europe
- D West Africa Correct
Answer: D. West Africa
Why: Traditionally carved from a single piece of wood with a goatskin head, and played entirely with bare hands.
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4The didgeridoo comes from which people?
- A Inuit of Canada
- B Sami of Scandinavia
- C Aboriginal Australians Correct
- D Māori of New Zealand
Answer: C. Aboriginal Australians
Why: Players use circular breathing — inhaling through the nose while pushing air out with the cheeks — to sustain a note indefinitely.
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5The bagpipe is played by doing what?
- A Bowing a set of strings
- B Maintaining air in a bag so the sound never stops Correct
- C Blowing directly through a single reed
- D Striking tuned metal tongues
Answer: B. Maintaining air in a bag so the sound never stops
Why: The bag lets the piper breathe without breaking the note. Versions exist across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, not only Scotland.
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6The balalaika is identifiable by what feature?
- A A triangular body Correct
- B A circular hole in the neck
- C Metal strings only
- D No fretboard
Answer: A. A triangular body
Why: A Russian instrument built in several sizes, from a small treble to a double-bass version taller than the player.
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7The steelpan was developed in which country?
- A Jamaica
- B Cuba
- C Brazil
- D Trinidad and Tobago Correct
Answer: D. Trinidad and Tobago
Why: Made from oil drums with the surface hammered into tuned sections. It is one of the few acoustic instruments invented in the twentieth century.
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8The erhu is what kind of instrument?
- A A hand drum
- B A plucked lute
- C A bowed string instrument with two strings Correct
- D A bamboo flute
Answer: C. A bowed string instrument with two strings
Why: Chinese, played with the bow hair passing between the two strings rather than over them, so it cannot be lifted away.
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9The kora combines features of which two instrument families?
- A The organ and the piano
- B The harp and the lute Correct
- C The drum and the flute
- D The violin and the trumpet
Answer: B. The harp and the lute
Why: A West African instrument with strings running over a bridge on a calabash resonator, played by hereditary musician families.
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10The theremin is unusual because it is played how?
- A Without being touched Correct
- B Only underwater
- C With the feet alone
- D By blowing across it
Answer: A. Without being touched
Why: Two antennas sense the position of the player's hands, controlling pitch and volume. It was among the earliest electronic instruments.
Read alongside this quiz
Why some notes sound right together
Harmony is not a matter of taste alone. Simple ratios, overtones, and the compromise hiding inside every piano.
7 min readFrequently Asked Questions
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