Musical Instruments (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)

Musical instruments are magical for kids. If you’re hoping to combine your child’s love for music with learning Spanish, then this guide is for you!

Music is universal. As human beings, we have been making music for thousands of years. Everything around us has a rhythm or a beat, so it is not surprising that music is one of the greatest and most interesting activities for kids to practice.

Learning music provides great benefits for children, and it can also help them improve their performance in other activities, like learning a second language, or learning about science.

The goal of this blog post is to combine your kids’ interest in music and learning Spanish so they can learn all about musical instruments, how to talk about their musical interests, what classification of musical instruments to use, and useful related vocabulary.

Let’s begin!

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All About Musical Instruments for Kids 

Los instrumentos musicales (musical instruments) are all those objects built with the only purpose of producing sounds and tones that can be combined to create music. The sounds and tones are usually produced by resonant systems and vibrations.

As humans, we have been creating music for thousands of years! Archeological excavations found 70,000 year old flutes made out of bone! 

Searching for more ancient treasures and information of old civilizations, experts have found drums, string, and wind instruments that were used by those ancient societies to create music.

We have proof that our ancestors used music for hunting, recreating natural sounds, religious rituals, and even just for fun. So, if almost every civilization created music, is there a way to keep track of all the different kinds of musical instruments in the world? 

Actually, yes! There is a way—let’s learn about it.

Classification of Instruments for Kids in Spanish 

When dealing with huge quantities of information the best thing we can do is classify it.

La clasificación (classification), according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a systematic arrangement of objects in groups or categories to establish criteria. 

This means that when we classify objects we do it taking into consideration their qualities and characteristics—and it is no different with musical instruments.

The oldest classification for musical instruments was created in China thousands of years ago, but today, we use a classification that was born in India during the 1st century. 

This system was so popular, it was adapted hundreds of years later by Victor-Charles Mahillon—later by Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and music experts and academics still use it to this day. 

This classification divides the instruments in:

• Aerophone instruments – instrumentos aerófonos
• Chordophone instruments – instrumentos cordófonos
• Idiophone instruments – instrumentos idiófonos 
• Membranophone instruments – instrumentos membranófonos

With time this system was simplified into:

• Chord instruments – instrumentos de cuerdas
• Percussion instruments – instrumentos de percusión. 
• Wind instruments – instrumentos de viento

This last classification is the one we are going to use to introduce musical instruments to kids in Spanish because it is the most commonly used when learning about musical instruments for beginners.

Percussion Instruments

Los instrumentos de percusión (percussion instruments) are those that create music through vibrations. Those vibrations can be produced by a tense membrane or patch—made of organic and synthetic material—or by the whole body of the instrument. 

To create the sound, you can strike the instrument with your hands, baquetas (drumsticks), and escobillas (brushes). Each way makes the sound different and leads to different rhythms.

Here are some examples of percussion musical instruments for kids in Spanish:

Percussion Instruments for Kids in Spanish

String Instruments

Los instrumentos de cuerda (string instruments) are those that you can produce sounds through the vibration of one or more strings.

To create harmonious sounds, las cuerdas (strings) have to be tense. The act of tensing the strings to create the desired sound is called afinar, or tuning. 

To make the strings sound you can pulsar (pulse), frotar (rub) and percutir (strike) them. Lastly, sound is amplified through la caja de resonancia (resonance box). 

Here is a vocabulary list of the most common string musical instruments to teach your kids about in Spanish.

String Instruments for Kids in Spanish

Wind Instruments

Los instrumentos de viento (wind instruments) are those instruments that produce sound through the vibration caused by the wind inside them. They don’t usually need strings or membranes to sound, because the wind is enough to produce the sound.

To correctly produce sound with these instruments, you have to learn how to correctly exhale into the instrument to make it sound.

Wind instruments can be divided into two types:

• Metal instruments – instrumentos de metal
• Wood instruments – instrumentos de madera 

Here is a list of the most common wind musical instruments and their names in Spanish.

Wind Instruments for Kids in Spanish

Whoa! We learned a lot of new words and instruments! 

Explore more FREE SPANISH LESSONS FOR KIDS! ➡️
Enjoy over 70 unique lessons + free activity packets to download.

Parts of the Instruments 

A key part of teaching about musical instruments for kids in Spanish, is how those instruments work and their parts. 

Here is a vocabulary list with the most important parts of different instruments in Spanish. 

Parts of the Instruments for Kids in Spanish

You can also check out this video for the parts of the guitar in Spanish. This one for the parts of the trumpet in Spanish, and this one here for the parts of a drum set in Spanish. 

Words Related to Musical Instruments for Kids

We can talk about musical instruments for kids without reviewing some of the most used words in music. 

These words are great to teach about music instruments for kids that are learning Spanish, so they can be able to talk about their interest in Spanish.

Check out the next vocabulary list with these words and their Spanish translation.

Music Related Words in Spanish

Adjectives

Download our fun worksheet to review all these new adjectives here.

Music Agrupations in Spanish

What Are the Best Musical Instruments for Kids?

There is a group of instruments that a man called Carl Orff suggested could be used to teach kids music in school.

Besides using different parts of the body to mark the rhythm—like snapping and clapping— Mr. Orff also suggested the use of simple musical instruments for kids like the following: 

Let’s Work on Our Spanish! 

Learning music is a great way to expand our children’s worlds—as well as their Spanish learning!

Young children have an incredible ability to pronounce foreign and unfamiliar sounds and understand complex grammar rules. The earlier they begin, the easier it is for them to learn—although any age is a great time to start! 

Currently, Spanish ranks among the top five most commonly spoken languages in the world, and by knowing Spanish, your child will communicate more easily with those around them. Due to its popularity, there’s a strong chance your child will encounter people who speak the language at school, on the playground, or around the community. With even a basic understanding, they can start and carry conversations that enrich their lives.

Do you need support in your classroom? Homeschool Spanish Academy provides 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 online Spanish classes for K-12 students. We can help alleviate the difficulty of having many students of varying levels of performance. Check out our group class page and give a look to the content we can provide you and your children.

Join one of the 40,000 classes that we teach each month and you can experience results like these

“This is the best way for your kid to learn Spanish. It’s one-on-one, taught by native Spanish speakers, and uses a curriculum.”

– Sharon K, Parent of 3

“It’s a great way to learn Spanish, from native Spanish speakers in a 1-on-1 environment. It’s been fairly easy to schedule classes around my daughter’s other classes. The best value for us has been ordering multiple classes at a time. All the instructors have been great!”

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“HSA offers very affordable, quality, one on one classes with a native speaker. My son has greatly benefited from taking classes. We have seen his confidence increase as well as his pronunciation improve, because he learns from a native Spanish speaker. HSA has quick, personal customer service. Our family has been very pleased with our experience so far!”

– Erica P. Parent of 1

Want more free Spanish lessons, fun content, and easy learning strategies for kids? Check these out!

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Carmen Rizzo

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

I’m a native Spanish speaker from Guatemala with a B.A. in Psychology. I have a passion for teaching Sunday school in my spare time and for learning and sharing valuable information. I'm a cat lover who gets excited over cartoons, anime, and video games. I dabble in digital illustration and animation. I'm inspired by sharing my culture, traditions, food, and beliefs with others, while learning about theirs in return.

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