A Note Block being triggered and playing a note.
Crafting
Note Blocks can be crafted by placing 8 planks in a square with redstone at the center.
Music
Note blocks play a note when hit or when powered by redstone. Redstone current only causes the note to play once, even if it is a continuous current. A note block must have at least one block of air above it to play a sound.
Each time a note block plays a note, a note particle will fly out of the top, with the color depending on the pitch (but not the instrument). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0VpkwHDF1M
Right clicking increases the note pitch up a half step, with a total of two full octaves being available to play. The range of notes span from F#2 to F#4. After reaching the highest note, right clicking again resets it back to F#2, as does breaking the block and picking it back up.
The instrument played depends on the block underneath the note block:
| Block Type | Instrument |
| Wood / Wood Planks / Pumpkin / Chest / Note Block / Air | Bass Guitar |
| Sand / Gravel / Soulsand | Snare Drum |
| Glass or Glowstone | Clicks / Sticks |
| Stone / Cobblestone / Obsidian / Netherrack / Bricks / Moss Stone | Bass Drum |
| All Other Blocks | Piano |
A video showing the different sounds can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBC8B7bAs88
Wiring
In order to wire Note Blocks to play a note when receiving power, power must be applied to the side of the Note Block using Redstone Dust. Simply placing a switch on an adjacent block, or proving power to the underneath of the Note Block will not work - Redstone Dust must be used to provide power to the side of the block in order to make it produce one note when it is turned on.
Here is an example of wiring and a simple song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4NpQ-sLqQ0
Other Information
Note Blocks can only play when there is at least a block of air above them. Also, note blocks placed on workbenches currently will make no sound.
History
Note Blocks were released on 13 January 2011 for the Beta release 1.2.