around the

around the
 In every country around the world, music
brings people together. Musicians gather
together to play music on instruments, and
people gather together to hear their music.
Musical instruments come in all shapes
and sizes, and they can be divided into
three groups based on how you play
them: percussion instruments, wind
instruments, and stringed instruments.

2 3
 Here are some percussion, wind, and
stringed instruments you may already
know about. Maybe you’ve seen or
heard them at home, at school, in a
band, or in a parade.

Now let’s take a trip around the world

to look at some musical instruments
that might be new to you...
4 5
 Percussion
Instruments
Most percussion instruments make
sounds when you hit them with
your hands, with sticks, or against
each other.
In West Africa, musicians slap drums
called djembes with their hands.
A djembe is usually carved out of a
single piece of tree trunk. The head
of the drum is made out of goatskin
or cowhide.

6 7
 Other percussion instruments can make
different sounds.
The kalimba is from South Africa. When
you pluck the pegs of a kalimba with
your thumbs, each peg makes a different
sound—just like the keys on a piano.
That’s why the kalimba is also called a
thumb piano!

In Asia, people have been playing gongs

for thousands of years. A gong makes a
long ringing tone, which sounds a little
like a loud bell. It’s fun to bang a gong!

8 9
Some Native Americans
in North America shake
rattles during dances.
Each rattle is hollow and
filled with seeds, rocks,
or shells. Shaking the
rattle makes sound as
the pieces inside of
it move around.

11
 Wind
Instruments
Wind instruments make sounds
when you blow air through them.
Panpipes are played in Peru
and many other South American
countries. Panpipes are made
from bamboo tubes of different
lengths. Each hollow tube makes
a different sound when you blow
across the pipes.

13
 Another long wind instrument is the
alpenhorn. It originally came from the
country of Switzerland, in Europe. In the
past, animal herders used the alpenhorn
to communicate with each other across
the valleys of the Alps mountain range.
Now, alpenhorns are played mainly at
festivals and other events.

Australia’s most famous wind instrument

is the didgeridoo.
The didgeridoo is a long wooden tube
that’s usually made out of a young tree
trunk. Didgeridoo players make their lips
vibrate while they blow into the hollow
tube. A didgeridoo player can make many
different low sounds this way.
14 15
Of all the wind instruments,
the bagpipe is one of the most
unusual looking!
The Scottish bagpipe is from the
European country of Scotland. A
bagpipe player blows air into a
bag that has four pipes coming
out of it. Three pipes each make
a single note. The fourth pipe has
a row of holes in it, which make
different sounds when the player
covers them with his or her fingers.

17
 Stringed
Instruments
Stringed instruments make sounds
when you pluck, strum, or rub
their strings.
The sitar is a stringed instrument
from the Asian country of India.
The word sitar means “three
strings,” but a sitar can actually
have as many as 20 strings!
Musicians usually play the sitar
sitting on a small platform, or even
on the floor.

18 19
 Sometimes musicians play stringed
instruments using only their fingers.
Other times, they also use something
else, like a guitar pick or a violin bow.
The Japanese samisen is played
with a bachi. A samisen has only
three strings, but it can make many
different sounds.

Greek musicians usually play the

bouzouki with their fingers and
a pick. Although it is played like
a guitar, the bouzouki has eight
strings, not six.

20 21
 alpenhorn
bagpipe Europe
Native North Asia
America
American bouzouki samisen
rattles
gong
djembe
Africa sitar

When musicians
play percussion South
America
instruments, wind
instruments, and panpipes kalimba didgeridoo Australia
stringed instruments,
the music they create
can make the world
seem brighter and It’s no wonder that people like listening
more colorful. to all kinds of music all over the world.

22 23