Music Crossword Puzzles Printable for Band and Choir

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Music Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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Answer key: Music Crossword

1S2TAFF3CEH4DRUM5VOPII6B7COMPOSEREYLAM8GUITA9R10TUBANHAYL11NOTESHM

Across 1 STAFF · 4 DRUM · 7 COMPOSER · 8 GUITAR · 10 TUBA · 11 NOTE

Down 2 TEMPO · 3 CHOIR · 5 VIOLIN · 6 BEAT · 7 CYMBALS · 9 RHYTHM

Next step Find music words in a word searchBuild a word search from this unit's terms

All 160 clues

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Instruments 43

  • Accordion Box squeezed between the hands, with bellows in the middle and buttons or keys
  • Bagpipes Pipes fed from a bag of air held under the arm
  • Banjo Its circular body has a thin skin stretched over it like a drumhead
  • Bassoon Low instrument with two reeds and a long tube folded back on itself
  • Bongos Pair of small open-bottomed hand drums from Cuba, one larger than the other
  • Bow Wooden stick strung with horsehair and drawn across strings
  • Brass Family in which the player's buzzing lips start the sound
  • Bugle Simple horn with no valves, used for military calls
  • Castanets Pair of hollowed clappers clicked together in one hand, heard in Spanish dance
  • Cello Four-stringed instrument played sitting down, resting on an endpin
  • Clarinet Straight black tube with one cane blade on its mouthpiece and a flared bell
  • Cymbals Pair of thin metal plates that crash together
  • Drum You strike its stretched skin with sticks or with your hands
  • Flute You blow across a hole near one end; most modern ones are made of metal
  • Fret Raised metal strip across a fingerboard that marks where to press
  • Gong Large hanging metal disc struck with a padded beater
  • Guitar It usually has six strings, a fretted neck and a sound hole
  • Harmonica Pocket-sized instrument played by blowing out and drawing in through its holes
  • Harp Tall triangular frame; the concert kind has 47 strings and 7 pedals
  • Kazoo Sing into it and a thin membrane adds a buzz to your voice
  • Mandolin Pear-shaped instrument whose eight strings are tuned in four pairs
  • Maracas Pair of rattles shaken by their handles
  • Marimba Wooden bars with a resonator pipe hanging under each one for a deep, warm tone
  • Oboe It has two reeds bound together and sounds the A that everyone tunes to
  • Organ Keyboard instrument that sends wind through ranks of pipes
  • Percussion Family of drums, rattles and anything else you strike or scrape
  • Piano Keyboard instrument with 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black
  • Piccolo Its name is Italian for small: a little side-blown instrument that sounds higher than its big relative
  • Recorder Whistle-mouthpiece instrument with a thumb hole, often the first one learned at school
  • Reed Thin strip of cane that vibrates against the mouthpiece of some wind instruments
  • Rosin Hardened tree resin rubbed on horsehair so it grips the string
  • Saxophone Patented by a Belgian in 1846; usually made of metal, yet counted with the woodwinds
  • Tambourine Hand-held hoop fitted with pairs of small metal jingles
  • Timpani Large bowl-shaped kettledrums that can be tuned to set notes
  • Triangle Steel rod bent into three sides and tapped with a metal beater
  • Trombone It changes notes with a long slide instead of valves
  • Trumpet Bright, high horn with three valves, the instrument of fanfares
  • Tuba Big, deep-voiced valved horn that usually has four or five valves
  • Ukulele Small four-stringed instrument that took shape in Hawaii in the 1880s
  • Viola Bowed instrument held under the chin, slightly larger than its higher cousin and tuned a fifth lower
  • Violin Smallest and highest member of the string family, held under the chin
  • Woodwind Family whose members are blown, many through a vibrating strip of cane
  • Xylophone Its name is Greek for the sound of wood: tuned bars struck with mallets

Reading Music 40

  • Arpeggio Tones that would sound together, played one at a time, rising or falling
  • Bass Name of the F sign, used for low voices and low instruments
  • Beat Steady pulse you tap your foot to
  • Chord Several tones sounded at the same moment; the most common kind has three
  • Clef Sign at the left end of every line of music that fixes which notes the lines stand for
  • Coda Closing section of a piece, from the Italian word for tail
  • Dot Small mark after a symbol that adds 50 percent to its length
  • Downbeat Count one, where the leader's hand moves straight down
  • Eighth Filled-in oval with one flag; two of them fill one count in 4/4 time
  • Fermata Hold sign drawn as an arc over a point; players nickname it a birdseye
  • Flat Sign like a small letter b: play the very next key to the left, black or white
  • Half Open oval on a thin upright line, held for two counts in 4/4 time
  • Harmony Different tones sounding together to support the main line
  • Interval Distance between two tones, such as a third or a fifth
  • Ledger Short extra line for notes too high or too low for the five main lines
  • Major Bright-sounding kind of key; C ___ uses only the white keys
  • Measure Space between two bar lines, holding a set number of counts
  • Melody Line of single sounds, one after another, that you can whistle
  • Meter Grouping of counts into twos, threes or fours, shown by two stacked numbers
  • Minor Darker-sounding kind of key; A ___ uses only the white keys
  • Natural Square-looking sign that cancels an earlier raising or lowering
  • Note Oval symbol placed on a line or in a space to show one sound
  • Octave Distance of eight letter names, as from one C up to the next C
  • Pitch How high or low a sound is
  • Quarter Filled-in oval on a thin upright line, held for one count in 4/4 time
  • Repeat Two dots beside a double bar line tell you to do this
  • Rest Symbol that tells you to stay silent for a set time
  • Rhythm Pattern of long and short sounds and silences
  • Scale Eight tones climbing or falling by step, such as do re mi fa sol la ti do
  • Score Printed music that shows every player's part at once
  • Sharp Sign like a tilted number sign: play the very next key to the right, black or white
  • Slur Curved line over several different tones that says to play them smoothly joined
  • Solfege System that names the steps of a key do, re, mi
  • Staff Set of five lines and four spaces that music is written on
  • Syncopation Stress placed off the main pulse, where the ear does not expect it
  • Tie Curved line that joins two of the same tone into one longer sound
  • Tonic Home base of a key, sung as do in movable do
  • Treble Name of the G sign that curls around the second line, used for higher sounds
  • Unison Everyone singing or playing exactly the same notes
  • Whole Open oval with nothing attached, held for four counts in 4/4 time

Italian Terms and Markings 31

  • Accelerando Gradually speeding up
  • Accent Wedge-shaped mark that tells you to stress one sound
  • Adagio Slow, with great expression; a notch slower than a walking pace
  • Allegro Fast and bright; the Italian word means cheerful
  • Andante At a walking pace
  • Crescendo Gradually getting louder, drawn as a hairpin that opens to the right
  • Diminuendo Gradually getting softer; decrescendo means the same
  • Dolce Sweetly
  • Dynamics Markings that tell you how loud or how soft to play
  • Fine Italian for the end, said FEE-nay
  • Forte Loud, shown by the letter f
  • Fortissimo Very loud, written ff
  • Glissando Slide from a low sound to a high one, or back, through everything between
  • Largo Very slow; the Italian word means broad
  • Legato Smooth and connected, with no gaps between the sounds
  • Metronome Device that ticks a chosen number of counts per minute
  • Mezzo Medium: the m in the markings mp and mf
  • Moderato At a medium speed
  • Ostinato Short pattern repeated over and over; the Italian word means stubborn
  • Pianissimo Very soft, written pp
  • Pizzicato Plucked with a finger instead of bowed
  • Presto Very fast; stage magicians say it too
  • Ritardando Gradually slowing down, often shortened to rit
  • Rubato Flexible timing; the Italian word means stolen
  • Solo One performer alone
  • Staccato Short, crisp and separated from its neighbors
  • Tempo Speed of the music, from the Italian word for time
  • Tremolo Trembling effect made by repeating one sound very quickly
  • Tutti Italian for all: everyone plays
  • Vibrato Slight, quick wobble that warms a long held sound
  • Vivace Lively and fast

Voices, Groups and Forms 46

  • Alto The A in SATB, the second-highest voice part
  • Anthem Song of a nation, sung before big events
  • Aria Song for one voice inside a larger sung drama
  • Ballad Song that tells a story
  • Ballet Story told through dance, with music and no spoken words
  • Band Group that may play while walking in a parade
  • Baritone Most common adult male voice, in the middle of the male range
  • Baton Thin white stick waved to show the counts
  • Blues Style from the Deep South of the United States built on a twelve-bar pattern
  • Canon Strict follow-the-leader piece whose name sounds like a big gun
  • Choir Group of singers
  • Chorus Part of a song that comes back again and again with the same words
  • Composer Person who writes music
  • Concerto Work that sets one featured player against a large group, usually in three movements
  • Conductor Person who leads a large group of players with hand gestures
  • Duet Music for two performers
  • Encore Extra piece played because the audience keeps clapping
  • Etude Piece written to practice one skill; the French word means study
  • Fanfare Short, showy flourish for trumpets
  • Folk Traditional music of ordinary people, passed down by ear
  • Fugue Piece in which one short theme enters in voice after voice
  • Hum Sing with your lips closed
  • Hymn Song of praise sung by a congregation
  • Jazz Style born in New Orleans, known for swing and improvising
  • Lullaby Gentle song to send a baby to sleep
  • Lyrics Words of a song
  • Maestro Italian for master: a title of respect for a distinguished musician
  • March Music with a strong left-right pulse for stepping in time; also a month
  • Minuet Graceful dance in three that began in France
  • Nocturne Dreamy piece inspired by the night
  • Opera Staged drama in which nearly every word is sung
  • Orchestra Large group with four instrument families, led by a person with a stick
  • Overture Music played before the curtain rises
  • Quartet Group of four performers
  • Ragtime Syncopated style at its peak from the 1890s to the 1910s
  • Recital Concert given by one performer or by a teacher's students
  • Rondo Form in which the main theme keeps returning: A B A C A
  • Round Circle-named song in which groups start the same tune at different times
  • Sonata Work for one or two instruments in several movements
  • Soprano Highest singing voice
  • Suite Set of short pieces, often dances, played in order; it sounds like sweet
  • Symphony Long work for a full concert-hall ensemble, most often in four movements
  • Tenor Highest of the common adult male voices
  • Trio Music for three performers
  • Verse Part of a song whose words change each time while the tune stays the same
  • Waltz Ballroom dance counted ONE two three

How this list was compiled: 160 clues written for this site. Every factual clue was checked against the English Wikipedia article on its subject (en.wikipedia.org) in September 2026. Note values use the American names (whole, half, quarter, eighth), and their counts are for 4/4 time, as each clue says. No song, performer, composer or other named person appears. Solfege and Etude are printed without accents. Licence: own work

How it works

These music crossword puzzles, printable on Letter or A4, use the American note names, Whole, Half, Quarter and Eighth, and count the saxophone as a woodwind. They are vocabulary crosswords, and every factual clue was checked against Wikipedia.

Read the full guide

Pick the set that matches the unit

Instruments reaches small parts such as Reed, Fret and Rosin. Reading Music covers the staff, note values and signs such as Fermata. Italian Terms and Markings runs from Accelerando to Vivace, and Voices, Groups and Forms from Alto to Waltz. Easy Music Clues, the opening set, has short answers such as Piano, Drum and Lullaby. Press New puzzle for another grid from the same set.

What the clues say, and what they leave out

A clue says how a thing looks, sounds or works: "It changes notes with a long slide instead of valves" is Trombone. Largo is glossed as broad, Rubato as stolen, Ostinato as stubborn. No song, performer or composer is an answer, so the puzzle fits any repertoire.

  • Before a concert, print Italian Terms and Markings with the word bank on (More options) and have players find each marking in their parts.
  • Reading Music reviews the first weeks of recorder or band: Staff, Clef, Measure and the four note values are all in it.
  • The answer key prints last, on a sheet of its own. The line that starts "Print gives" has the page count before you print.

Questions and answers

Why is the saxophone counted as a woodwind here?

Because its sound starts at a single cane reed, not at the player's lips, and woodwinds can be built from any material. A metal flute is a woodwind for the same reason. In the Brass clue, the player's buzzing lips start the sound.

Do the clues use crotchet and quaver, or quarter note and eighth note?

The American names only. Each note value clue describes the symbol and gives its count in 4/4 time: Whole is held for four counts, Quarter for one. A class that says semibreve, minim, crotchet and quaver should skip the Reading Music set.

What grade level are the music clues?

Easy Music Clues suits about grades 2 to 4, with answers such as Harp and Choir. The other four sets suit upper elementary and middle school. Syncopation and Accelerando, at 11 letters, are the longest answers. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

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