Instruments - reading passage and questions for music classes

Sometimes we all need no-prep, print-and-go quiet activities for our music classroom. Ideal for cover lessons, homework, quiet lessons, displaced classes or make-up activities, each worksheet in this set of 10 includes a reading passage on musical instruments and ten associated questions.

Worksheets included:
String instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, viol)
Woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, cor anglais)
Brass instruments (trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba)
Percussion instruments (tuned and untuned orchestral percussion)
Keyboard instruments (piano, harpsichord, organ, synthesizer)
Fretted instruments (guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, banjo)
Latin American instruments (maracas, bongos, congas, cajon, panpipes, charango)
African instruments (djembe, balafon, oud, mbira, oporo)
Asian instruments (sitar, tabla, erhu, gamelan, shakuhachi)
Celtic instruments (fiddle, bodhran, whistle, clarsach, bagpipes)

Tell me more!
The worksheets can be printed or assigned digitally as a PDF, with students answering on blank paper/document so the printed sheets can be reused. Easy printing: in greyscale and on letter size or A4 paper.

The reading comprehension passages have been carefully crafted for a 10-12 year old reading level. Care has been taken to use dyslexia-friendly font, font size 14+ and 1.5 line spacing to allow easy reading for all students.

The questions can all be answered using the text in the reading passages. The worksheets require no prior knowledge and no teacher input so they can be used with a wide range of classes and abilities, students can work independently with no technology requirements, and they are ideal to leave for a non-specialist substitute teacher.

Tie them in with your curriculum! Lunar new year - Asian instruments. St Patrick’s Day - Celtic Instruments. Orchestra topic - strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

I keep some of these worksheets printed in my classroom for cover emergencies. I have also used it during displaced classes when we have no access to instruments, as make-up work for students “opting out” of the curriculum or a concert, as homework, and to supplement our class topics.

Differentiate! Assign the task in one of three ways to suit different abilities or to fit your time requirements:

1. Answer the questions
2. Copy and answer the questions
3. Copy the passage then answer the questions