Listening Quiz - World instruments

Which instrument?

• Koto

• Sitar

• Lute

• Didjeridu

Answer explanation

The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music.

Which instrument?

• Bouzouki

• Shekere

• Panpipes

• Bagpipes

Answer explanation

Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Today, bagpipes are most closely associated with Scotland.

Which instrument?

• Dulcimer

• Koto

• Erhu

• Lute

Answer explanation

The koto (箏) is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument, and the national instrument of Japan.

Which instrument?

• Rebab

• Ukulele

• Shakuhachi

• Zither

Answer explanation

Zithers are a class of stringed instruments. Historically the name has been applied to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Often associated with German music.

Which instrument?

• Shekere

• Mbira

• Lute

• Koto

Answer explanation

The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a Yoruba percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. The instrument is common in West African and Latin American folkloric traditions as well as some of the popular music styles. In performance it is shaken and/or hit against the hands.

Which instrument?

• Shakuhachi

• Mbira

• Dulcimer

• Ukulele

Answer explanation

Mbira (/əmˈbɪərə/ əm-BEER-ə) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs (at minimum), the right forefinger (most mbira), and sometimes the left forefinger.

Which instrument?

• Rebab

• Panpipes

• Sitar

• Koto

Answer explanation

In the Indonesian gamelan the rebab is an essential elaborating instrument, ornamenting the basic melody. A two-string bowed lute consisting of a wooden body, traditionally though now rarely a single coconut shell, covered with very fine stretched skin

Which instrument?

• Didjeridu

• Erhu

• Shakuhachi

• Panpipes

Answer explanation

The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the shakuhachi was developed in Japan in the 16th century. The instrument is tuned to the minor pentatonic scale.

Which instrument?

• Bouzouki

• Sitar

• Zither

• Lute

Answer explanation

A lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body.

More specifically, the term "lute" commonly refers to an instrument from the family of European lutes. The term also refers generally to any necked string instrument having the strings running in a plane parallel to the sound table (in the Hornbostel–Sachs system).

Which instrument?

• Bouzouki

• Shakuhachi

• Erhu

• Dulcimer

Answer explanation

The bouzouki (/buːˈzuːki, bʊˈ-/,^[1][2] from Greek μπουζούκια), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and a long neck with a fretted fingerboard. It has steel strings and is played with a plectrum producing a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but pitched lower.