A cello leaning in a corner on its endpinA cellist plays seated with the endpin resting on the floor. The waist is two C-shaped bites out of a long oval.
A concert harp with its red and black stringsAbout 47 strings, with every C red and every F black or blue. Frame first: upright pillar, curved neck, soundboard.
A double bass beside a bar stool for scaleThe stool tells the viewer how tall it stands. Draw a centre line first so the left and right halves match.
A five-string banjo seen from the frontThe body is a drum: a round skin stretched over a rim. The short fifth string starts at the fifth fret.
A guitar headstock with six tuning pegsThree pegs a side or six in a row. Each string winds round its own post, so the strings fan out slightly.
A guitarist's left hand holding a chord, close upFingers arch so only the tips press down, and the thumb hides behind the neck. Frets are parallel bars.
A mandolin hanging from a wall hookA teardrop soundboard and a short neck. The eight strings run in four pairs, so draw four double lines.
A snapped guitar string curling off the bridgeOne spiral line springing away from five straight ones. The curl tightens toward the loose end.
A string quartet's four empty chairs and music standsSet the chairs in a shallow arc and prop an instrument on each. The cello is the only one that reaches the floor.
A ukulele on a striped towelFour strings and a body small enough to tuck under one arm. Draw a guitar, then shorten the neck.
A violin bow lying across an open caseA long thin stick with a flat ribbon of hair held taut beneath it. Two near-parallel lines that meet at the tip.
A violin lying on a table, scroll toward youFour strings, an f-hole either side of the bridge and a carved scroll. Seen end-on, the body squashes to a squat 8.
An acoustic guitar from the front, sound hole in the middleA figure 8 with a fatter bottom half, a round hole under the strings and a long neck. Rule the six strings last.
An electric guitar on a stand, cable coiled on the floorNo sound hole: pickups under the strings turn the vibration into a signal. Invent your own body outline.
Brass and woodwind 14
A clarinet taken apart in its open caseBlack tubes of different lengths, each in its own shaped slot, the last one flared. The lining gives you soft shading.
A flute lying on open sheet musicA straight tube with keys along it, and a woodwind even when it is metal. Shade it as a cylinder: dark, light, dark.
A French horn, all coilsTubing coiled round, ending in a big flared bell. The left hand works the valves; the right cups inside the bell.
A harmonica in a cupped handMetal cover plates above and below a comb, with a row of holes along the mouthpiece: ten on the common diatonic.
A school recorder with its holes in a rowA beak mouthpiece, a slot-shaped window below it, then seven finger holes down the front. The thumb hole is at the back.
A trombone with its slide pushed right outA telescoping slide instead of valves, with seven positions. Two long U bends and a flared bell.
A trumpet bell seen straight on, with a mute in itConcentric circles: bell rim, dark throat, mute. Polished brass mirrors the room, so add a bent window reflection.
A trumpet from the side, valves uprightBrass tube bent twice into a rounded oblong, with three piston valves in the middle and a flared bell.
A tuba sitting bell-up on a chairTreat it as a fat cone wrapped once round itself. The bell is a wide ellipse facing the ceiling.
An alto saxophone on its standMade of brass but a woodwind, because it has a single reed. A cone with a curved neck and a U bend up to the bell.
An oboe reed drawn ten times life sizeAn oboe uses a double reed: two thin cane blades bound to a small metal tube. Tiny, so draw it big.
Bagpipes laid out: bag, chanter and dronesThe bag holds the air. The chanter, held in both hands, plays the melody; each drone holds one constant note.
Pan pipes tied in a row, longest to shortestTubes of steadily changing length bound side by side. Keep the top edges level and let the bottoms step down.
Three brass bells catching the stage lightsTrumpet, trombone and sax bells as three overlapping ellipses. One hard highlight on each rim; leave the rest dark.
Percussion and keys 13
A cajón with a player sitting on itA box-shaped drum from Peru: the player sits astride it and slaps the front face. Draw the box first, then the sitter.
A five-piece drum kit from the drummer's stoolFive-piece counts drums only: snare, bass drum and three toms. Cymbals are extra. Every drum top is an ellipse.
A grand piano with its lid propped openIn a grand the strings lie horizontal and run away from the keyboard, which is why the lid is a long curved wing.
A hi-hat standing slightly openA pair of cymbals on one stand, played with a foot pedal as well as the sticks. Two shallow ellipses and a thin gap.
A pair of bongos, one drum bigger than the otherTwo small open-bottomed hand drums joined by a wooden bridge. The larger is the hembra, the smaller the macho.
A pair of timpani with copper bowlsAlso called kettledrums: a skin stretched across a big bowl, traditionally copper, tuned with a foot pedal.
A snare drum on its stand, two sticks crossed on topA short cylinder with tension rods round the side. The crossed sticks break up the plain top ellipse.
A tambourine caught mid-shakeA shallow hoop with pairs of small metal jingles set in slots. Double the jingles' outlines to show the rattle.
A triangle hanging from its loop, beater beside itMetal bent into a triangle with one end left open. It hangs from a loop of thread so that it can ring.
A xylophone with two mallets resting on the barsWooden bars struck by mallets, stepping from long to short. Each bar is a little box; keep the gaps between them even.
An upright piano with a metronome on topIn an upright the frame and strings stand vertical, so the case is a tall box. The metronome is a small pyramid.
Hands on a keyboard, seen through the player's eyesFingers curve as if holding a ball and the thumbs lie on their sides. The keys narrow toward a vanishing point.
One octave of piano keys seen from aboveSeven white keys and five black. The black ones sit as a group of two and a group of three, never evenly spaced.
Notation 13
A bass clef with its two dotsIt is an F clef: the two dots sit either side of the fourth line up, which is F. A fat-headed comma and two dots.
A crescendo hairpin opening across the pageTwo lines that start at a point and widen to the right mean get louder. Mirror it for getting quieter.
A dotted half note written out as a sumA dot adds half the note's value again, so a dotted half note lasts as long as three quarter notes.
A fermata over one long noteAn arc with a dot under it, like an eye looking down. It asks the player to hold the note for longer.
A five-line staff bending into a waveA staff has five lines and four spaces. Keep the lines parallel as they swoop, like lanes on a running track.
A grand staff joined by a braceA treble staff above and a bass staff below, tied together at the left by a tall curly bracket.
A page of sheet music whose notes fly off as birdsLet the noteheads lift off the right-hand end of the staff, grow wings and shrink into the distance.
A scale of notes whose stems flip at the middle lineOn the centre line or above, the stem goes down from the left of the notehead; below it, up from the right.
A sharp, a flat and a natural side by sideA sharp is a slanted grid of four strokes, a flat is a b with a pointed belly, a natural is a box with two tails.
A treble clef drawn as big as the pageIt is a G clef: the line that passes through its curl, second from the bottom, is G. Start in the curl and spiral out.
An alto clef, the one violas readA C clef: the line through its centre, the third line, is middle C. Two mirrored curves meeting at a point.
Two eighth notes joined by a beamA single eighth note carries a flag, but two or more are usually beamed. A flag always sits on the stem's right.
Whole, half, quarter and eighth notes in a rowWhole: a hollow oval with no stem. Half: hollow with a stem. Quarter: filled in. Eighth: filled, with one flag.
Records, tapes and headphones 13
A 7-inch single with its large centre holeA 45 rpm single has a big hole, which made it easier for jukebox mechanisms to handle. Add the snap-in adapter.
A 12-inch LP half out of its sleeveLPs play at 33 1/3 rpm. A black circle sliding out of a square, with a round label and a small centre hole.
A boombox on a front doorstepA long box with two big speaker circles, a cassette door between them, a carry handle and a telescopic aerial.
A cassette with its tape pulled out in a tangleOne thin ribbon looping loose from the bottom edge. Twist it so both the shiny side and the dull side show.
A compact cassette with a pencil through one spoolTwo miniature spools behind a window. Philips introduced the format in 1963. A rectangle, two toothed circles, a label.
A music box with its lid open, comb and cylinder showingPins on a revolving cylinder pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. Small and mechanical: sharpen the pencil.
A speaker cabinet with its grille cloth offA big cone below and a small one above. Each cone is circles inside circles, darkest in the middle.
A stage microphone on a stand, cable looped at its footA ball of mesh on a tapered handle. Cross-hatch the grille so the lines follow the curve of the ball.
A turntable from above, tonearm resting on the recordA circle inside a rectangle with the arm pivoting from one corner. Offset the platter so the arm has room.
A wind-up gramophone with a flower-shaped hornThe horn is a cone that flares like a bloom, with ribs running out to the rim. Put a crank on the side of the box.
Earbuds tied in a hopeless knotOne continuous line that crosses over and under itself. Break the line wherever it passes underneath.
Light catching the grooves of a spinning recordThe spiral groove runs from near the outer edge to near the centre. Draw wedges of shine fanning from the label.
Over-ear headphones resting on a stack of booksA headband arc joining two cups. Each cup is a short cylinder with a soft ring cushion, so it is ellipses again.
Posters, covers and sound waves 13
A festival line-up poster with shrinking typeHeadliners in the biggest letters, then each row smaller. Rule guidelines first so the rows stay level.
A gig poster with the band name huge and the date smallUse three sizes of lettering only. The invented band name fills the top third; date, place and price share one line.
A sine, a square and a sawtooth wave stackedSine: one smooth roll. Square: flat tops and straight drops. Sawtooth: a ramp and a sudden fall, like saw teeth.
A sound wave that turns into a city skylineStart with plain bars on the left and let them become buildings with lit windows by the right-hand edge.
A square album cover with one object in the centreRule the square first. One object, plenty of empty space, and the title small in a corner.
A stage seen from the crowd, hands in the airSilhouetted heads and arms along the bottom, beams of light fanning from above, the band as small bright shapes.
A ticket stub for a concert that never happenedA rectangle with one perforated edge, a row, a seat and a date. Invent the band and the venue.
An album cover built from a 3 by 3 grid of invented facesNine small portraits, each with a different expression. Keep the head the same size in every box.
An album title hand-lettered round a circleDraw the circle, then a second one for the letter height. Letters stand on the inner ring and fan out like spokes.
The back of a tour T-shirt with a list of invented datesA tall centred column of towns and dates under one small emblem. Let the shirt's folds bend the lettering.
Equaliser bars as a mountain range at nightColumns of stacked blocks, tallest near the middle. Colour by height: cool at the bottom, warm at the top.
Rings of sound spreading from a loudspeakerArcs that get thinner and farther apart as they travel. Let them pass through the furniture in the room.
Your own name drawn as a sound waveA row of vertical bars, tall for loud syllables and short for quiet ones, mirrored above and below a centre line.
How it works
Most lists of music drawing ideas stop at a treble clef and a guitar. This one has 80: instruments from every orchestral family, notation to doodle in a margin, records and cassettes, and posters for bands that do not exist. Each hint gives the shape to start from, plus a checked fact where there is one.
Read the full guide
Instruments are tubes, boxes and ellipses
An instrument looks hard because it is shiny and symmetrical, not because its shapes are strange. A trumpet is tubing bent twice into a rounded oblong with three piston valves. A drum is a cylinder, so its top is an ellipse. For anything with strings, rule a centre line and build both halves off it. The three instrument groups hold 41 music things to draw between them.
Notation, records and posters need no reference
The 32 easy ideas lean on notation, because a clef is a doodle with rules: the treble clef's curl wraps the G line, and the bass clef's two dots sit either side of F. Records, tapes and headphones has 13 still lifes you may already own. Posters, covers and sound waves holds 13 layouts, three of them album covers, among them A square album cover with one object in the centre.
Ellipses first. Every drum head, bell and speaker cone is one, and a wobbly ellipse spoils an otherwise good drawing.
Count before you rule: six strings on a guitar, four on a violin or ukulele, eight in four pairs on a mandolin.
Shiny brass is mostly dark. Leave one hard white highlight along the tube and put the darkest tone right beside it.
Questions and answers
Which ideas are easiest to start with?
Notation is the friendliest group: A fermata over one long note is an arc and a dot, and Two eighth notes joined by a beam is two ovals, two stems and a bar. Among objects, try Earbuds tied in a hopeless knot, a single line crossing itself. Thirty-two are in Easy.
Why is the saxophone listed with the woodwind?
Families go by how the sound starts, not by material. A saxophone is made of brass, but a single reed sets its air moving, so it is a woodwind, and so is a metal flute. The piano sits with percussion here because hammers strike its strings, though it also counts as a keyboard and a string instrument.
Can I use these for a real band poster?
Yes, as layouts. The poster and cover ideas say where things go: one huge name, three sizes of lettering, a square ruled first. Every band, venue and date in the list is invented, so nothing copies a real release. Put your own band's name in.