The Beforing is a list of musical instruments, categorized by section. Please add to List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number also. See also List of instruments by nationality and there are 482 musical instruments listed. This includes the variations of categories, but not the categories themselves. Example: There are eight types of flutes in the western concert flute category, which are all metal. Therefore there are eight instruments listed in that category and western concert flute is not considered a musical instrument and is not listed in the count of instruments.