Make your own Junk Percussion
When making instruments always consider the resources being used with a particular focus on an allergies / intolerances the students may have as well as their motor skills for using equipment.
When you have made all the instruments, why not decorate them?
Do share photographs of your instruments with us on Social Media - Twitter - @musicworkshopco
Shakers
You need: A container
Use: A plastic bottle with a lid, e.g. water or drinks bottle / a plastic container with a lid / a tube, e.g. Pringles
Plus Contents - one or more of the following:
Sand
Stones
Gravel
Small shells
Dried Beans
Seeds
Rice
Salt
Sugar
Coffee Beans
Paper Clips
Buttons
Beads
Ball Bearings
Glitter
To make a shaker, put the contents you have chosen into your container and ensure the lid is tightly attached (either screwed on tightly or stuck on with tape or glue)
You can experiment with the different contents to see what different sounds can be made.
OR
Take a piece of string and thread pasta shapes such as penne tubes on to it. Ensure you tie the ends of the string together to stop the pasta falling off!
Drums
You can use ready-made drums or you can make your own
For a ready-made drum use a metal saucepan, metal dustbin, plastic dustbin, large square biscuit tin or empty tissue box.
To make your own drum you need:
A hollow object e.g. ice cream tub, biscuit tin, bucket
A drum ‘skin’, e.g. clingfilm, paper, canvas, plastic bag, sticky back plastic (with the sticky side inside the drum)
Something to attach the skin to the head, e.g. elastic bands
Remove the lid if the hollow object has one, place the skin over the open top of the container and pull the skin tight. Fasten the skin to the drum using elastic bands or tape.
Drums can be played with the hands or drum sticks.
You can use pencils, sticks, chop sticks, wooden spoons or dowling as drum sticks.
You can turn your drum into an ocean drum but putting beads or dried peas inside the hollow object before adding the drum skin. You can experiment with the different contents to see what different sounds can be made.
Guiros or Scrapers
You can use a ready-made guiro or you can make your own.
For a ready-made guiro, use a rigid plastic bottle such as a water bottle, preferably one that has some grooves. Scrape a pencil or chop stick along the side of the bottle.
To make your own guiro, take a piece of dowling and notch grooves in it. Scrape a pencil or another piece of dowling along the grooves.
OR
Take a plastic bottle or tube and wrap washing line around it, gluing the washing line in place as it spirals around the bottle or tube. Secure each end with tape. When dry, use a pencil or chop stick to scrape the washing line.
Bells
For the bells, use: Keys / Buttons / Milk bottle tops
To join them together, use: String / Thread / Elastic
Thread the bells on to the string, thread or elastic and fasten the ends together.
These could be made into wrist or ankle bells.
Contact us
We create musical workshops for all ages, abilities and occasions. To book or if you have any questions, email us using the form below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
