Drawing music is very complicated, which is why most people never learn how to do it. Technically speaking, drawing any kind of instrument requires you to know what key it is in, what notes it has, where each part goes, and how to color them.

But there’s another way to look at it! Inspired by artists who have mastered this craft, we will go into detail about some easy ways to draw musical instruments quickly and correctly.

Here are all the things you need to know!

Step 1: The Pencil Method

In this method, you start with an outline or shape that represents the body of the instrument. Then, you fill in the internal parts (the neck, the fretboard, etc.) and add details like frets and markings.

This technique works well for simple guitars, basses, and ukuleles because they only have one body part. For example, a guitar has a body, a head, and a tremolo bar. You would begin by drawing the general shape of the body, then add the rest.

The same applies to double-bass and cello, which both have a cylindrical body and a bow. To make it easier to see the similarities between these instruments, I organized this article according to their corresponding bodies.

Practice drawing different positions of instruments

When learning how to draw an instrument, one of the first things you should do is practice drawing some basic positions of each type of musical instrument. This will help you break down the process into smaller pieces, which can then be organized and connected with other parts of your artistic self.

Practice making lines that match up with the position of a violin string or a guitar freewheel as well as vertical bars for bass guitars and double basses.

You can also make shapes like circles or squares by movinging the nose up and down on a clarinet or using a tubular shape for brass instruments.

When it comes time to color in the piece, use simple washes to indicate the tone and texture of the material.

Create your own drawing of an instrument

The next way to learn how to draw musical instruments is by creating your own! This can be done in two ways either by designing your own or looking at pre-made designs online or in books.

The first way is by designing your own, this means you pick your favorite part (string, body, etc.) of an instrument and create it as if it was a separate illustration.

Then you add other parts such as notes and fingering to complete the design.

This method can easily be adapted for any stringed instrument. For example, you could design the violin from start to finish or begin with the neck and work down from there.

The second way is more difficult than the first but still very doable! This is looking at pre-existing drawings of instruments and working from those.

There are many websites and YouTube channels that feature free beginner guitar lessons designed to teach you the basics of music theory, note reading, rhythm, and even technique tutorials.

These sites also usually have step-by-step lesson plans that give you guidance and tips along the way.

Learn to read musical notation

The next step in learning how to draw music is knowing what notes are, and how to identify them! You will learn about note names, numbers, shapes, position, and timing of each note.

Music theory can be very complex, so don’t get overwhelmed at first. Take your time to understand one part before moving onto the next. When you feel as though you have mastered one area, then move onto another!

There are many great resources available online and through books that can help you develop your knowledge. There are also lots of websites with interactive lessons and exercises to hone your skills.

Once you have learned some basic concepts, you can start practicing by drawing your own notes or patterns. Use simple geometric shapes suchas squares, rectangles, circlesand trianglesto begin.

Learn to create your own musical notation

The next step in becoming an expert musician is learning how to draw music. You can start by drawing some of the most basic instruments such as the violin, guitar or piano. By practicing this process many times, you will eventually be able to produce amazing pieces that even other musicians could admire!

There are several ways to learn how to diagram music. Some people teach themselves through YouTube videos while others find books more helpful.

Practice drawing human shapes

Another way to learn how to draw musical instruments is by practicing drawing different human body parts, such as hands and feet. By doing this, you will also be improving your skills in depicting proportion and shape of other things, like guitars or flutes!

Practice drawing from life and then translating those drawings into the computer or paper. This method works well because you are using real materials that actually exist, so there is no need to worry about getting it wrong!

There are many great resources available online and through YouTube for beginner artists to learn how to draw easily. You can find lots of tips and tricks and ways to improve their art making skill set.

Learn to create human shapes in drawings

The next step is to learn how to draw humans, or what we refer to as “figure drawing”. Figure drawing is simply creating shape and proportioned lines that depict someone else’s body. It can be difficult at first because you have to figure out how people actually look and then you need to apply those rules to your own style!

Figure drawing will help you get into the habit of putting emphasis onto defining muscles and bones rather than smooth skin. This will train your hand to make very strong outlines and establish some basic proportions.

Another important thing about figures is their use of light and shadows. Learning how to shade various areas properly will give you an excellent starting point for shading other things like plants and hair.

Musical instruments are quite complex so this article will go more in depth when it comes to learning how to draw them.

Learn to use reference materials

The first thing you need to do is learn how to use references effectively. This can be anything form YouTube videos to printed music theory books and diagrams. There are many great sources of information about drawing musical instruments so try out various ones to see what works for you!

Musical instrument drawings seem to have an infinite amount of styles and techniques, which makes it hard to know where to start. That’s totally normal! No one book or video will teach you everything there is to know about creating beautiful pictures of guitars, basses and pianos, but by using several together you’ll get pretty good.

Many people begin with simple shapes like lines and circles before moving onto more complicated structures. Once you’ve mastered that, then you can move onto simpler parts such as picking out strings, frets, etc. Then progress up from there!

General tips

Try not to focus too much on perfectionism at this stage. Creating beautifully realistic looking instruments takes time, energy and lots of practice, so don’t worry if yours aren’t always perfect. Sometimes having quick and rough sketches helps bring your ideas to life.

Don’t feel limited to just copying and pasting things directly from another source, instead add something new to it! Try layering different textures, patterns and colors to create your own style.

Create your own reference materials

It is very difficult to learn how to draw any kind of instrument without doing so first. Before you start trying to imitate what an artist has done, make sure that you have learned how to do it yourself!

There are many ways to get more inspiration for drawing musical instruments. You can look at pictures or learning material online, but one of our favorite methods is to create your own.

By creating your own drawings or diagrams of a particular instrument, you will be giving them new life. These “homework” assignments help you focus on detail and structure, which are both important components in artistic form.

Charlie K

Charlie K is a music writer and blogger for Sounds of Gold. He also composes background music for a range of web-based businesses.