Band facts for kids

The Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 1964

In music, a band is a group of people (usually musicians) that get together to sing songs, or perform music. There are different kinds of bands that use different groups of instruments.

Types of bands

• A Band (rock and pop) is usually a group of 4 people with 1 or 2 electric guitars, a bass guitar, a drum kit and a singer. Some rock bands have only 3 members.
• A brass band is a group of about 20 - 30 people with brass instruments and drums.
• A concert band is a large group of 20 - 60 people with woodwind instruments, brass instruments, drums and percussion instruments.
• A marching band has similar instruments to the concert band. Instead of sitting down to play, they march in parades or at American football matches.
• A folk band uses traditional styles of music from around the world. It can include a guitar, violin, tin whistle, flute, accordion, lagerphone and tea chest bass, and many other makeshift instruments. A lagerphone is a percussion instrument which uses bottle tops to make a sound. A tea chest bass is a one string instrument that uses a large wooden tea box to make the sound louder.