How to
vary the sounds with size, shape, and materials
What you'll
need
Clean tubes,
cans, and jars of different size: paper towel/toilet paper/wrapping paper
tubes, coffee/vegetable tin cans with flat bottoms, glass jars if you're careful
and don't drum or shake too hard;
To make drums
and shakers: Have an adult remove just the tops of several cans of different
sizes.
For drums, tape
over the opening with duct tape, and use dowels or chopsticks as drumsticks.
For shakers,
put a handful of dried beans and/or corn kernels in the can, then close with
duct tape.
Make shakers
and drums with cardboard tubes, jars, and plastic bottles, too.
Notice how different
shapes and materials affect sounds.
Try drumming
on large buckets, too.
Make a "drum
kit" with several different-sized drums.
Give a performance
for all your friends and tell them how your instruments make their different
sounds.
What next
Creation
and invention:
Invent your
own musical instrument
Create a game
to identify different instruments by sound
Write a piece
of music with your instruments and music-writing software, or learn to play
your favorite song on your homemade instruments.
Video and/or
photograph your performance
Make a chart
or website about instruments and the sounds/tones they make.
Discussion:
How does instrument
size and shape change the sound produced? Do longer, fatter instruments make
higher or lower sounds than shorter, skinnier ones?
If you changed
to a cardboard instead of a tin tube of about the same size, how does the
sound change?
What musical
instruments rely on different-length tubes for their different sounds?
What happens
if you play your instrument a different way? Can you hold your hand over the
stamping tube and make a different noise? What if you drum with your hands?
What happens if you blow across your tube's opening?
What happens
if your drum is open on the bottom instead of closed?
Field
trip possibilities:
School
music department for a demonstration of different instruments and how
their sounds differ.
Old musical
instruments exhibit at science or art museum
