Musical Instruments – Class 3 Arts Chapter 9 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3ArtsChapter 9NCERT book: Bansuri - Arts Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 9 of the NCERT Class 3 Arts book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 9: Musical Instruments

Introduction

Chapter 9, Musical Instruments, introduces instruments used in Indian classical and folk music. Children can hear their sounds through the QR code. They also make a kitchen orchestra and a shaker, meet many kinds of drums and wind instruments, and practise patterns in music.

What's in this Chapter

Activity 1 – Know your Instruments:

- The book shows the harmonium, bansuri, mridangam, tabla, santoor, sarangi, shehnai, sarod, manjeera, sitar and pakhawaj.

- Which have you heard before? Can you find the instruments in the Kashmiri song Bumbro?

- The Teacher's Note suggests inviting local musicians to play for the class.

Activity 2 – Make a Kitchen Orchestra:

- When musicians play different instruments together, it is called an orchestra.

- Use kitchen items to make music at home, and play along with Undra Mojea Mama.

Activity 3 – Make a Shaker!:

- Shakers are percussive instruments: the sound comes from shaking.

- You need a small recycled bottle, a handful of dry pulses, grains, beads or pebbles, and paint.

- Keep the bottle dry, fill it, close it tightly, decorate it and let it dry.

- Do You Know: different fillings, and different amounts of filling, make different sounds. Which grain is loudest? Does more filling make more noise?

Activity 4 – Sounds of Musical Instruments:

- The dafli, damru, dhol, dholak, tabla, edakka (idakka) and chende have bodies made of wood or copper.

- Their playing faces are sometimes on top and sometimes on the left and right sides. They are played with hands or sticks.

- Pictures also show the tavil and ghumat.

Activity 5 – Drums at festivals and wind instruments:

- Hear and see drums played at festivals, such as the nagada and dolu.

- Wind instruments pictured: bansuri, nagaswaram, shehnai and ransingha.

- Collect and paste pictures of instruments.

Activity 6 – Patterns in Music:

- Find patterns where the melody or rhythm repeats, and practise sargam patterns: S R G M P Dh N Ṡ; SR RG GM…; SRG RGM GMP…

- The Teacher's Note says to sing them with humming, aakaar or sargam, keep rhythm with claps, and control breathing while singing.

Key Ideas

India has many classical and folk instruments: string, wind and percussion (drums).

An orchestra is a group of musicians playing together.

Percussion instruments such as drums and shakers are struck or shaken.

The filling inside a shaker changes its sound.

Music has patterns that repeat.

Activities from the Book

Identifying instruments by sound, kitchen orchestra, making a shaker, listening to drums, making a picture collection, and singing note patterns.

Words to Learn

Instrument (वाद्य यंत्र): a thing used to make music

Orchestra (वाद्यवृंद): many musicians playing together

Percussion (ताल वाद्य): instruments played by hitting or shaking

Shaker (झुनझुना): a container with grains that makes sound when shaken

Recycled (पुनः उपयोग किया गया): used again

Drum (ढोल): an instrument with a stretched face that is struck

Bansuri (बाँसुरी): a bamboo flute

Harmonium (हारमोनियम): a keyboard instrument pumped with air

Pattern (क्रम/पैटर्न): something that repeats

Breathing (साँस लेना): taking air in and out

Tips for Parents & Teachers

Make shakers with different fillings (rice, dal, pebbles) and compare the sounds.

Hold a "kitchen orchestra" with steel plates, spoons and a pressure-cooker lid. Keep it safe: no knives or glass.

Watch a video of a nagaswaram or tavil and name the instruments.

Practise slow sargam patterns with deep breathing.

Common Mistakes

Using a wet bottle for the shaker: the book says keep it completely dry.

Not closing the bottle tightly, so the grains spill.

Calling every instrument a drum: bansuri, shehnai and nagaswaram are wind instruments.

Running out of breath while singing long patterns: control your breathing.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Indian classical and folk music use many instruments, like harmonium, bansuri, tabla, sitar, sarangi, santoor and mridangam.
✓An orchestra is a group of musicians playing different instruments together; kitchen items can form a kitchen orchestra.
✓A shaker is a percussive instrument; the type and amount of filling changes its sound.
✓Drums such as dafli, damru, dhol, dholak, tabla, edakka and chende have wooden or copper bodies and are played with hands or sticks.
✓Music has repeating patterns; singing note patterns needs rhythm and breath control.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Play the QR code sounds and let children guess each instrument.
→Invite a local musician to play an instrument for the class.
→Plan shaker-making with safe recycled bottles and supervise closing and decorating.
→Group children into a kitchen orchestra to accompany a song they know.
→Sort instrument pictures into drums, strings and wind instruments.
→Practise sargam patterns slowly with claps before speeding up.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child name at least five instruments shown in the chapter?
Did the child make a working shaker and compare sounds of different fillings?
Can the child explain what an orchestra is?
Can the child sing a simple sargam pattern while keeping rhythm?

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