Music Charades
Instruments, genres, dances and song titles to act out — without making a single sound
Music charades has a built-in joke: the whole theme is sound, and you are not allowed to make any. Miming a trombone, a heavy metal drummer or a song title everyone knows is far harder than it sounds, and watching someone try is most of the entertainment.
The packs below run from instruments, which anyone can act out, to song titles and studio moments, which reward a group that knows each other's taste. There is also a random prompt generator you can pass around on one phone. All free, nothing to print.
Want charades ideas beyond music? Browse all our charades ideas
Random music mime
Tap the button, act out whatever appears, and let the other team guess. Silently, obviously.
A drummer who has lost a stick mid-song
Music charades word packs
Read a pack out loud and let each player pick, or write the words on slips and drop them in a hat. Instruments and dances are the easy end; song titles are where the arguing starts.
Instruments
Guitar, drums, piano, violin, trumpet, flute, saxophone, accordion, harp, triangle, double bass, tambourine
Genres and styles
Heavy metal, opera, jazz, rap, country, disco, punk, classical, reggae, folk, electronic, marching band
Song title ideas
Pick titles the whole group knows — a summer hit everyone is sick of, a song from a film, a birthday song, a national anthem, a lullaby, a christmas song, a football chant, a wedding first dance, a nursery rhyme, an advert jingle
Dances and moves
Waltz, tango, moonwalk, breakdance, ballet spin, line dance, headbang, conga line, slow dance, robot, jive, the one move everyone does at weddings
On stage
Conductor, drummer, opera singer, busker, backing dancer, roadie carrying gear, sound engineer, front-row fan, crowd surfer, someone filming the whole show on a phone
Behind the music
Recording booth, breaking a guitar string, a squealing microphone, rehearsing the same bar again, a metronome, headphones on one ear, a soundcheck, an encore, a standing ovation, packing up after the gig
Funny music mime challenges
Everything here has to be done in complete silence, which is the entire point. Give the actor 60 seconds.
- Mime a drum solo with no drums and no noise
- Act out an opera singer holding an impossibly long note
- Be a conductor whose orchestra keeps speeding up
- Mime playing an instrument that is far too large for you
- Act out a singer who has forgotten every word
- Be a fan at the front row who cannot see the stage
- Mime tuning a guitar that will not stay in tune
- Act out a band taking a bow one person too early
Music jokes to break the ice
Read one out between rounds. They are deliberately terrible.
- Why did the pianist keep banging his head on the keys? He was playing by ear.
- What is a skeleton's favourite instrument? The trombone.
- Why did the musician get locked out? He left his keys inside the piano.
- What do you call a musician with no job? A drummer, according to the band.
- Why are pirates such good singers? They can hit the high seas.
- What is the loudest part of music charades? The team that already guessed.
How to play music charades
Ordinary charades with a musical word list and one extra rule that makes or breaks it. Four players is enough.
- 1
Split into two teams
Any size works as long as the teams are roughly even. One player acts while their own team guesses; the other team keeps time.
- 2
Agree the silence rule
Humming the tune is the obvious temptation, and it makes song titles far too easy. Decide up front whether humming is allowed — most groups ban it and are glad they did.
- 3
Act it out in 60 seconds
No speaking, no singing, no pointing at a speaker in the room. One point per word guessed; most points after an agreed number of rounds wins.
Music charades FAQ
What is music charades?
It is charades where every word is musical — an instrument, a genre, a dance, a song title or a moment from a gig. The rules are the same, but the theme creates the joke: you act out sound without being allowed to make any.
Can you hum the tune in music charades?
Only if your group agrees to it first. Humming makes song titles almost trivial, so most groups ban it entirely. A common compromise is to allow rhythm — clapping or tapping a beat — but no melody.
How do you act out a song title?
Break it into words and act each one, the way classic charades does, rather than trying to mime the whole song. Agree a signal for "song title" first, and pick titles the whole group definitely knows.
What are good music charades words for beginners?
Instruments and dances. A guitar, a trumpet, a drum kit or a waltz all have an obvious physical shape, so a new player can start acting within two seconds. Save genres and song titles for later rounds.
How many words do we need?
About 5 to 10 per player. The six packs on this page hold over sixty prompts between them, which covers a full evening, and the generator will produce more on any theme.
Can we play without printing anything?
Yes. Use the random prompt generator above on one phone and pass it around, or read a word pack aloud. Nothing needs printing, writing or cutting up.
Ready to play?
Grab your group, pick a word pack and start acting. The rules take a minute to read and the game runs on one phone.
See how to play
