50 Fun Facts About Music Trivia for Kids

How many keys does a piano have?

When you press a key, a little felt hammer inside strikes a string.

How many strings does a normal guitar have?

You press the strings against the frets with one hand and strum or pluck with the other.

Which is the smallest and highest-sounding instrument in the orchestra's string family?

It has four strings and is played by pulling a bow across them; some people call it a fiddle.

Which is the biggest and lowest-sounding string instrument in an orchestra?

Players usually stand up or sit on a tall stool to play it.

What does a drummer usually hit the drums with?

Foot pedals work the bass drum and the hi-hat cymbals.

The trumpet belongs to which family of instruments?

Its tubing is bent twice into a rounded rectangle shape.

The flute belongs to which family?

You make the sound by blowing across a hole to vibrate a column of air.

What is the person who stands in front of an orchestra and waves a stick called?

The stick is called a baton, and it helps the musicians see the beat.

How many main sections are there in an orchestra?

Strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

Which composer could already play keyboard and fiddle, and had started composing, by the age of five?

He was born in Salzburg and performed for kings and queens as a small child.

Which famous composer kept writing music even after he started to go deaf?

His Ninth Symphony, with the 'Ode to Joy', was first performed in 1824.

Which children's song became the most-viewed YouTube video of all time in 2020?

Pinkfong's version has a hand dance to go with it and passed seven billion views.

Which character sings 'Let It Go' in Frozen?

Idina Menzel sings it in the film, and it won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

According to Guinness World Records, what is the most recognised song in the English language?

Its tune comes from an 1893 song called 'Good Morning to All'.

The words to 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' come from a poem written by whom?

The tune is an old French song that Mozart also wrote variations on, so people wrongly think he wrote the whole thing.

What style of music did Taylor Swift start out singing?

Her first two albums came out in 2006 and 2008 before she moved into pop.

'Shake It Off' was the first single from which Taylor Swift album, her first pop record?

The album is named after the year she was born.

Which Disney+ show did Olivia Rodrigo star in before her first hit song?

Her first single, 'Drivers License', came out in January 2021 and made her a star.

Who writes and produces most of Billie Eilish's songs with her?

Her first song, 'Ocean Eyes', was put on SoundCloud in 2015.

Where did Bruno Mars grow up?

As a little boy in Honolulu he was famous for pretending to be Elvis Presley.

Bruno Mars sings on which Mark Ronson song, the biggest hit of the 2010s?

It won Record of the Year at the Grammys in 2016.

Which girl group was Beyoncé the lead singer of before going solo?

It broke up in 2005; her 2024 country album is called Cowboy Carter.

Where does the boy band BTS come from?

Their name means 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts', and 'Dynamite' was their first song fully in English.

Which song was BTS's first recorded fully in English?

It came out in August 2020 and sounds like 1970s disco.

Where does Ed Sheeran come from?

He grew up in Suffolk and started writing songs at about eleven.

Which Disney Channel show made Sabrina Carpenter famous before her music career took off?

Her 2024 album Short n' Sweet, with 'Espresso' on it, won two Grammys.

In KPop Demon Hunters, what is the name of the girl group who secretly fight demons?

The Netflix film came out in 2025 and stars the voices of Arden Cho and Ahn Hyo-seop.

Which English city were The Beatles from?

John, Paul, George and Ringo formed the band in 1960.

Which Beatles song ends with a long 'na na na' sing-along and topped the chart for nine weeks in 1968?

Paul McCartney wrote it for John Lennon's young son Julian.

In Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video, what does he dance with?

Horror actor Vincent Price does the spooky talking part in the song.

Who composed the famous Super Mario Bros. theme?

In 2023 it became the first video-game music added to America's National Recording Registry.

In The Sound of Music, who plays Maria and teaches the children 'Do-Re-Mi'?

The 1965 film is based on the true story of the von Trapp family singers from Austria.

Who wrote the songs for Encanto and Moana, including 'We Don't Talk About Bruno'?

He also created the Broadway musical Hamilton.

Which small four-stringed instrument was made popular on the islands of the Pacific?

It was based on little guitars brought to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants in the 1880s.

Which instrument is the largest and lowest of the brass family?

It was invented in Prussia and patented in 1835.

The saxophone is named after which inventor?

He was Belgian and patented it in 1846.

What are the bars of a xylophone made of?

Its name comes from Greek words meaning 'wood sound'; toy ones with metal bars are really glockenspiels.

What is the small metal rod used to strike a triangle called?

The triangle hangs from a loop of string so it can ring freely.

Which instrument do many children learn first at school, often a plastic one?

Professional recorders are made of wood, but school ones are moulded plastic.

The harmonica is also called what?

You play it by blowing and sucking air through little reeds; blues musicians love it.

The bagpipes are most famous in which part of the United Kingdom?

The air comes from a bag squeezed under the arm, but bagpipes have been played across Europe and beyond for centuries.

The didgeridoo was invented by the Aboriginal peoples of which place?

Players use 'circular breathing' to keep the drone going without stopping.

How do you play a kazoo?

A little membrane inside buzzes when you hum, so it changes your voice.

What does a metronome do?

You set the speed in beats per minute and practise keeping time with it.

What is a group of singers called?

Singers are often split into soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts.

What does the word 'tempo' mean?

It is measured in beats per minute, and Italian words like allegro and adagio describe it.

Which note does the treble clef, or G-clef, wrap around on the staff?

The F-clef marks the F below middle C, and the C-clef marks middle C itself.

What was the name of Olivia Rodrigo's first single, released in January 2021?

It went straight to number one and kicked off her album Sour.

Where did Sabrina Carpenter perform 'Espresso' to launch it in 2024?

It was the first single from her album Short n' Sweet.

The Encanto soundtrack spent how many weeks at number one on the US album chart?

Every one of its eight songs made the Hot 100 singles chart too.