Band Vocabulary Worksheet

Press Print worksheet to match twelve band terms, from brass and woodwind to tempo and first chair, to their meanings.

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All 36 terms

The band 12

baton The slim stick waved to show musicians the beat. "She raised her baton and the room went silent."
brass Horns of metal tubing, such as the tuba and trombone. "The brass came in loudly at the chorus."
concert band A group of wind and drum players, without strings. "The concert band played three pieces at the spring show."
conductor The person who directs the musicians as they play. "All eyes were on the conductor."
drum major The leader who gives commands to a group on parade. "The drum major blew a whistle and the lines turned."
first chair The top player of an instrument, who takes its solos. "He practiced all summer and made first chair."
marching band Players who perform on the move, keeping in step. "The marching band led the homecoming parade."
percussion Instruments beaten with sticks or hands. "The percussion kept everyone together."
rehearsal A practice held to get ready for a public show. "Rehearsal ran ten minutes late on Thursday."
section All the players of one kind of instrument. "The trumpet section stood for its solo."
tempo How quickly or slowly the music's beats go by. "They took the tempo slower until the notes were clean."
woodwind The family of flutes, clarinets and saxophones. "She chose a woodwind, the clarinet."

Show all 36 terms (24 more)

Instruments and gear 12

bell The flared opening where a horn or clarinet ends. "The bell of the trumpet flashed under the stage lights."
embouchure The set of the lips and face muscles used to blow a horn. "Her teacher helped her fix her embouchure."
ligature The clamp that keeps a clarinet's vibrating strip in place. "The ligature had slipped, so the clarinet would not sound."
mallet A beater shaped like a small hammer, as used on a xylophone. "She held a mallet in each hand."
mouthpiece The part a player blows into, held at or between the lips. "She rinsed the mouthpiece after practice."
music stand A rack that holds the printed pages at reading height. "Two flute players shared one music stand."
reed A thin strip that vibrates to make the sound when blown. "A cracked reed made the clarinet squeak."
slide The long tube that a trombonist pushes out and pulls in. "He oiled the slide so it would move freely."
snare drum A drum with wires across its lower skin that rattle. "A roll on the snare drum opened the piece."
sousaphone A large tuba whose tubing circles the body of a marcher. "The sousaphone gleamed at the back of the parade."
valve A part pressed on a trumpet to bring more tubing into use. "The second valve kept sticking."
water key A small lever on a horn that lets collected moisture drain. "He pressed the water key between songs."

Rehearsal and marching 12

articulation The way a note is started and ended, smooth or clipped. "The director asked for lighter articulation."
cadence A drums-only piece that keeps marchers in step. "The cadence carried them down Main Street."
color guard Performers who spin flags in routines set to the music. "The color guard carried silver flags."
downbeat The first and strongest pulse in each bar of music. "Everyone breathed together before the downbeat."
drumline All the drummers who march and play as one unit. "The drumline practiced on the blacktop."
fanfare A brief, showy flourish on horns that marks a big moment. "A fanfare opened the ceremony."
formation The pattern that marchers stand in on the field. "From the stands, the formation looked like a star."
intonation How well a player's notes match the true pitch. "Listening to each other improved their intonation."
sheet music Notes written or printed on paper for players to read. "He clipped the sheet music so the wind could not take it."
tune To adjust an instrument until it sounds the correct notes. "The clarinets tune to the same note before they start."
unison Everyone sounding the very same notes at the same moment. "The melody began in unison."
warm-up A few easy exercises done just before the real playing. "The warm-up was a slow scale."

How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day in two references: the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and the entry in the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/). Where the second has no entry or no sense of music, the second reference is an article of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Water key, Music stand and Percussion mallet for the terms they are named after; Concertmaster for first chair; Marching percussion for drumline; Color guard (flag spinning) for color guard; Drum cadence for cadence; Ligature (instrument) for ligature; Articulation (music) for articulation. Slide was also read in the article Trombone, valve in the article Brass instrument valve and formation in the article Marching band. The answers under the list rest on the articles Concert band, Marching band, Drum major (marching band) and Drum cadence. The sentence in quotation marks after each meaning is our own. Licence: own work

How it works

This band vocabulary worksheet prints twelve terms down the left and their meanings, mixed up, down the right. It opens on the band itself: brass, woodwind, percussion, section, conductor. Two more sets cover instruments and gear, then rehearsal and marching.

Read the full guide

Band words for sections and leaders

Set opens on The band: brass, woodwind, percussion, section, conductor, baton, concert band, marching band, drum major, tempo, rehearsal and first chair.

Instrument parts and marching band words

Instruments and gear prints mouthpiece, reed, valve, slide, bell, ligature, water key, mallet, sousaphone, snare drum, embouchure and music stand. Rehearsal and marching has warm-up, tune, intonation, unison, downbeat, sheet music, articulation, drumline, color guard, formation, cadence and fanfare. Under the tool each term has a sentence that uses it, such as "A cracked reed made the clarinet squeak."

The Italian words for speed and loudness, from adagio to fortissimo, are on the piano vocabulary worksheet.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a concert band and an orchestra?

A concert band has no string section, and that is the key difference from an orchestra. It may still add a double bass, a harp or a piano.

What are the sections of a band?

Woodwind, brass and percussion. A concert band is made up of members of those three families of instruments, and a marching band typically includes the same three.

What does a drum major do?

The drum major leads a marching band, usually from its head, and gives it commands by voice, hand gestures, a whistle, a baton or a mace. The drum major also keeps the tempo and is the link between the band director and the band.

What is a drum cadence?

A piece played only by the percussion section of a marching band, also called a street beat. It gives the band a beat to march to and is played between or in place of pieces for the full band.

All 36 terms

The band 12

Instruments and gear 12

Rehearsal and marching 12

How it works

Band words for sections and leaders

Instrument parts and marching band words

Questions and answers

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