Finish the Instrument Name Quiz

[A] iol | Violin plays the highest notes among string instruments. Stradivarius violins can cost millions, while beginners rent theirs for about fifty dollars monthly.

[A] lu | Flute players blow across the mouthpiece like blowing across a bottle. Silver flutes sound brighter than gold ones, surprisingly enough.

[B] Snare | Snare Drum gets its rattling buzz from metal wires underneath. Military drummers once sent battlefield commands through different snare patterns centuries ago.

[C] ub | Tuba weighs about thirty pounds and uses twenty feet of tubing. One tuba player equals the volume of four French horns playing together.

[A] ia | Piano has 88 keys controlling 230 strings inside. Beethoven kept composing after deafness by feeling the piano's vibrations through the floor.

[D] io | Viola jokes abound because violinists often switch to viola. Yet Mozart preferred playing viola over violin in string quartets with friends.

[B] bo | Oboe reed making takes hours of careful scraping. Professional players spend more time crafting reeds than practicing their actual instrument.

[C] ymb | Cymbals vibrate up to 5,000 times per second when struck. Quality orchestral cymbals age like wine, improving their sound over decades.

[D] French | French Horn uncoiled stretches eighteen feet long. Players insert their hand into the bell to adjust pitch, a technique from valveless hunting horns.

[B] rg | Organ pipes range from pencil-sized to 32 feet tall. Bach walked 250 miles to hear a famous organist perform in 1705.

[A] el | Cello endpin wasn't added until 1850s. Before that, players squeezed the instrument between their knees, making virtuosic passages nearly impossible.

[C] lar | Clarinet can play lower than oboe despite being shorter. Its cylindrical bore creates this acoustic quirk that baffled early instrument makers.

[D] Bass | Bass Drum vibrations travel through floors and walls. Concert halls design special platforms to control how much bass drum audiences physically feel.

[A] rum | Trumpet players buzz their lips 1,000 times per second for high C. Ancient Egyptian trumpets were found in Tutankhamun's tomb, still playable.

[C] arp | Harpsichord strings get plucked, not hammered like pianos. Baroque composers wrote different notes for each hand to create dynamic contrasts.

[B] bass | Double bass strings cost hundreds each and last about one year. Jazz players prefer steel strings while classical players choose gut strings.

[D] Bass | Bass Clarinet reaches notes so low that composers use it for movie monster themes. Its bent metal neck prevents it from being five feet tall.

[A] amb | Tambourine appears in ancient Egyptian tomb paintings from 1400 BCE. Professional orchestral models cost over $500, not your typical classroom shaker.

[B] rom | Trombone slides through seven positions to change pitch. Medieval paintings show angels playing trombones, considered the most sacred brass instrument then.

[D] ar | Harp strings exert 1,000 pounds of tension on the frame. Concert harpists develop calluses thicker than guitar players from plucking wire strings.

[C] icc | Piccolo means "small" in Italian, fitting for the tiniest orchestra member. Its piercing sound cuts through 100 other instruments playing fortissimo.

[A] imp | Timpani pitch changes via foot pedals while playing. Composers specify exact notes, unlike other drums that just provide rhythm without defined pitches.

[B] Bass | Bass Trombone adds trigger valves to reach pedal tones. Wagner wrote parts so low that players had to develop new instruments to perform them.

[C] English | English Horn isn't English nor a horn but a large oboe. Nobody knows why it got this confusing name that frustrates music students everywhere.

[A] ele | Celesta looks like a tiny piano but strikes metal bars. Tchaikovsky kept it secret before Sugar Plum Fairy's premiere, fearing competitors would steal it.

[D] ass | Bassoon uses a bocal, that curved metal tube connecting reed to body. Professional bocals cost thousands and musicians guard their favorites jealously.

[B] ylo | Xylophone bars are rosewood or synthetic materials, precisely tuned by shaving underneath. Orchestra models have resonator tubes that amplify each note's pitch.

[C] ont | Contrabassoon plays an octave below regular bassoon, producing 16Hz rumbles. Stretched straight, its tube would measure eighteen feet of wooden confusion.

[D] him | Chimes imitate church bells in concert halls. Each tube weighs several pounds, and complete sets cost more than many people's cars.