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Orchestras are organised by how an instrument makes its sound, not by what it looks like, and that single idea sorts almost every instrument instantly. Below: the families and how to spot them.
Choose your difficulty
Pick a level to start playing. You can switch at any time.
How to play
Read the instrument, then tap its family.
Tip: your progress and best score are saved in this browser only.
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ArtWhat you are actually practicing
Orchestras are organised by how an instrument makes its sound, not by what it looks like, and that single idea sorts almost every instrument instantly. A flute and a saxophone look nothing alike but are both woodwind; a harp and a tuba are both family members of completely different sections.
It is a genuine classifying skill, and the same instinct — group by mechanism rather than appearance — is what separates a good taxonomist from a memoriser.
How the game works
You are shown an instrument and four families. Pick the family. A wrong pick reveals the answer immediately.
Easy uses the obvious cases. Medium widens the set. Hard uses the full list, including the ones that look like they belong elsewhere.
The families worth knowing
Strings: violin, cello, harp, guitar, lute, banjo. Sound from vibrating strings, bowed, plucked or struck.
Woodwind: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone. Sound from a reed or a blown edge of air.
Brass: trumpet, French horn, tuba, trombone. Sound from buzzing lips into a cup or cone.
Percussion: timpani, xylophone, marimba, snare drum. Sound from something being struck.
Keyboard: piano, organ, accordion, harpsichord. Sound from a key pressing a string, a pipe or a reed.
Strategies that actually raise your score
Ask how the sound is made. Woodwind and brass both involve air, but brass has buzzing lips in a cup and woodwind has a reed or an edge of air. That distinction sorts the two hardest families.
Watch for the visual traps. The accordion looks like a keyboard, and the saxophone looks like a brass instrument. It is neither — it is a woodwind, and the saxophone is the classic mistake.
Use the section you already know. If you can place five instruments correctly, the other fifteen follow by elimination.