Music Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page offers 42 music riddles with answers for children, music teachers and families who love to sing. The easy riddles describe common instruments, the middle sets cover orchestras, notation and the things around a performance, and the hard set mixes music facts with number puzzles. Every riddle is clean and written to be read aloud.
Easy Music Riddles
I have four strings and a bow, and you tuck me under your chin to play. What am I?
A violin
I have six strings and a hollow wooden body, and you strum me with your fingers. What am I?
A guitar
You hit me with sticks, and I go boom, bang and crash. What am I?
A drum
I am a long silver tube, and you blow across a hole in me to make a high, airy sound. What am I?
A flute
I am a shiny brass instrument with three valves, and my sound is bold and bright. What am I?
A trumpet
I jingle when you shake me and I ring when you tap me. I have a round frame and little metal discs. What am I?
A tambourine
A singer holds me close to her mouth so everyone in the hall can hear her. What am I?
A microphone
I sit over your ears and let you listen to music without bothering anyone else. What am I?
Headphones
I have coloured bars in a row, and you play me with two soft mallets. What am I?
A xylophone
I am a group of people who stand together and sing in harmony. What am I?
A choir
I have verses and a chorus, and you can sing me in the shower. What am I?
A song
I am a metal shape with three sides that hangs from a string, and you ring me with a little stick. What am I?
A triangle
Trickier Music Riddles
I wave a thin stick in the air, but I make no sound myself. All the musicians follow me. Who am I?
A conductor
I am a big group of musicians who play strings, woodwind, brass and percussion together. What am I?
An orchestra
I tick back and forth, and I keep a steady beat for a musician who is practising. What am I?
A metronome
I am a triangle-shaped frame full of strings, and you pluck me with your fingers. Angels in paintings often play me. What am I?
A harp
I am a simple wooden or plastic pipe that children learn at school, and you cover my holes with your fingers. What am I?
A recorder
I am a black disc with grooves, and a needle reads my songs as I spin on a turntable. What am I?
A vinyl record
I repeat the last words you sing, but I only live in canyons and big halls. What am I?
An echo
I am a sheet of paper covered in lines, dots and strange symbols, and a pianist reads me. What am I?
Sheet music
I am a Scottish instrument made of pipes and a bag that you must fill with air. What am I?
Bagpipes
You squeeze me in and out, and I have keys on one side and buttons on the other. What am I?
An accordion
I stand at a party with two turntables and mix songs one after the other. Who am I?
A DJ
I am a curly symbol at the start of the lines of a tune, and I tell you the notes are high. What am I?
A treble clef
Hard Music Riddles
I have keys but open no locks, hammers but build nothing, and strings but no puppet. What am I?
A piano
A full-size piano has 88 keys, and 52 of them are white. How many are black?
36, because 88 - 52 = 36
A song is 32 bars long, and each bar has 4 beats. How many beats is that in all?
128, because 32 x 4 = 128
A song plays at 120 beats per minute and lasts 3 minutes. How many beats does it have?
360, because 120 x 3 = 360
An orchestra has 60 players. Half play strings, a sixth play woodwind and a tenth play brass. How many players are left for percussion and the rest?
14. Strings 30, woodwind 10, brass 6, and 60 - 46 = 14
I am the number of different notes in a major scale before the first one comes back an octave higher. What number am I?
Seven
I am a pause in the music, and I am marked on the page though no sound is made. I still last for a count. What am I?
A rest
What kind of band can never play a note?
A rubber band
I wrote great symphonies even after I could no longer hear them, and my Ode to Joy is world famous. Who am I?
Beethoven
I am the instrument you were born with, no shop sells me, and I come with you everywhere. What am I?
Your voice
Quick-Fire Music Riddles
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do: I climb up and down. What am I?
A scale
The part of a song that comes back again and again. What am I?
The chorus
The words you sing. What are they?
Lyrics
The tune you hum. What am I?
The melody
A group of musicians who play together, often with a singer. What am I?
A band
A live show where people play for an audience. What am I?
A concert
The crowd shouts for me, and I am an extra song at the end. What am I?
An encore
A song for two voices. What am I?
A duet
How to Use These Music Riddles
Music riddles fit nicely at the start of a lesson. Read one aloud and let pupils name the instrument, then play a clip of it or let them try it. The easy set suits ages four and up and needs no knowledge of notation.
For older learners, use the hard set as a theory challenge. Ask them to show how they got the answers to the beat and bar puzzles, and discuss why a rest counts even when it is silent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good music riddle for kids?
Try 'I have four strings and a bow, and you tuck me under your chin to play.' The answer is a violin. Riddles that describe how an instrument looks and sounds are easiest for children.
How many keys does a piano have?
A full-size piano has 88 keys, made up of 52 white keys and 36 black keys. Smaller keyboards often have 61 or 76 keys, but a standard grand or upright piano has 88.
Can music riddles help in a music lesson?
Yes. They are a quick way to review instruments, notation and terms, and they get pupils listening and thinking. Use the quick-fire riddles as a starter and the hard set for extension.
What does a conductor do?
A conductor leads an orchestra or choir, using a baton and hand gestures to set the speed, show when each group should play and shape how loudly or softly the music sounds.
