Musical Instruments

Nine instruments, each with its own sound, crafted at the Instrument Station. Anyone can craft and play one, and everyone within 64 blocks hears you. Pick one below to hear it and see its recipe.

Updated 24 Oct 2026

Flute

Lute

Vielle

Trumpet

Celtic Harp

Kalimba

Dulcimer

Accordion

Bagpipe

Playing from the hotbar

The quickest way to play, and you can keep walking while you do.

• Put the instrument in your off-hand.
• Press 1 to 8 to play C, D, E, F, G, A, B and the next C up.
• Hold Shift for a second layer. Most instruments play a full chord on each key. The Flute, Trumpet and Bagpipe play the same notes an octave higher instead.
• After each note your selection jumps back to slot 9, so you can play the same note twice. Slot 9 plays nothing, and whatever is in it is what others see in your hand.
• /instruments keybinds lists every key for the instrument you hold.

The on-screen keyboard

Play with the mouse instead of the number keys.

Right-click while holding an instrument, or use /instruments play. The keyboard has three rows of notes from C to B: high, middle and low. Click a note to play it. Instruments with chords show a small dot under each note: click it for the chord. The options button changes the keyboard's size.

Recording music discs

Record a song in up to four layers and press it onto a music disc.

1. Craft a Music Station at the Instrument Station from 6 Spruce Planks, 4 Glass Panes, 1 Iron Ingot and 1 Black Dye. Place it and right-click it. Stay within a few blocks while you use it.
2. Create a song and give it a title. Each character can keep up to 36 songs; right-click one to delete it.
3. Each row is a track, up to four. Hold an instrument and press record on a track. After a 3-second count-in, play from your hotbar or the keyboard. A take can last up to 3 minutes.
4. Listen to the take with the other tracks, then keep or discard it. Each track has its own volume and mute. Song settings change the title and the metronome, which only you hear and is never recorded.
5. Get a music disc (for example from fishing) and place it on Publish full song. The disc now plays your song in any jukebox, heard within 32 blocks, and shows its title and you as the author.

Publishing over a disc that already has a song needs a second click to confirm. Copies made before keep the old version. You can publish once every 30 seconds, and up to 20 new or changed versions across your account in any 24 hours. Publishing an unchanged version again doesn't count. Every studio button also has a /music command, and /music copy copies a recorded disc onto a blank one.

If no sound plays

• Turn up the Jukebox/Note Blocks volume. Instruments, the keyboard and music discs all use it.
• For the hotbar, the instrument must be in your off-hand, and slot 9 never plays.
• The Lute weapon forged in Advanced Crafting is not an instrument and can't be played.

Commands