13 OBJECTS · 18 cm TO 2.7 m

Size It Up: Music

Musical instruments span three orders of magnitude, from a stage microphone to a concert grand piano and a concert harp. If you have never carried a double bass up a staircase, prepare to be surprised by how much room it needs.

The Music set holds 13 measured objects, from a stage microphone at 18 cm to a concert grand piano at 2.7 m — the numbers on this page cover a factor of about 15. Each one is measured on the axis the game scores: standing height for things you would walk up to, longest visible span for everything else. Every size below links to the published measurement it came from.

THE NUMBERS

How big are these, really?

All 13 objects in the Music set, smallest to largest. Each rung is compared with the one below it, so the category reads as a single ladder rather than a list of unrelated figures.

18 cm

Stage Microphone height

Stage Microphone: A handheld vocal mic is sized around the grip, not the capsule inside it. Source ↗

48 cm

Trumpet length / span

Trumpet: About 1.5 m of tubing, wrapped into 48 cm of instrument. Source ↗

59 cm

Violin height

Violin: A full-size violin is always about this long; smaller fractions exist for children, down to 1/16. About 3.3× the height of a stage microphone. Source ↗

67 cm

Concert Flute length / span

Concert Flute: Played sideways, which makes its 67 cm read much smaller on stage. About 1.4× the length of a trumpet. Source ↗

74 cm

Alto Saxophone height

Alto Saxophone: The bend and the bell fold more than a metre of tubing into 74 cm of instrument. About 1.3× the height of a violin. Source ↗

90 cm

Trombone length / span

Trombone: Measured closed — running the slide out to seventh position adds more than half a metre. About 1.3× the length of a concert flute. Source ↗

1 m

Acoustic Guitar height

Acoustic Guitar: A dreadnought is about a metre long, but only 65 cm of that is vibrating string. About 1.4× the height of an alto saxophone. Source ↗

1 m

Concert Tuba height

Concert Tuba: Up to 5.5 m of tubing, wrapped into about a metre of instrument. Practically the same height as an acoustic guitar. Source ↗

1.2 m

Cello height

Cello: The body accounts for about 76 cm — the rest is neck and endpin. About 1.2× the height of a concert tuba. Source ↗

1.5 m

Drum Kit length / span

Drum Kit: Kit width is set by the bass drum and how far the drummer’s arms can reach. About 1.7× the length of a trombone. Source ↗

1.8 m

Double Bass height

Double Bass: Tall enough that players either stand or perch on a stool. About 1.5× the height of a cello. Source ↗

1.9 m

Concert Harp height

Concert Harp: Forty-seven strings holding close to a tonne of combined tension. Practically the same height as a double bass. Source ↗

2.7 m

Concert Grand Piano length / span

Concert Grand Piano: A concert grand can be more than 2.7 metres long. About 1.8× the length of a drum kit. Source ↗

PLAY IT

Play the Music set

Reading the numbers is one thing; sizing them by eye against a reference silhouette is another.

The daily puzzle mixes every category, so these objects turn up there at random. For a set built only from them, Unlimited deals five of them at a time, as often as you like. Unlimited is practice: it is unranked and never touches the daily leaderboard. New to the game? How to play covers the rules and the 0–500 scoring in two minutes.

KEEP GOING

Other categories

Every category has its own page of measured sizes. Landmarks and space produce the biggest scale shocks; sports and everyday objects are the fairest places to calibrate your eye.