Its hard not to waste time browsing through Pinterest and seeing some great ideas to try. The beauty of being a piano teacher and music educator is that I actually get to put lots of those treasures into action. I have discovered some of my favorite blogs through Pinterest and would credit them to a wonderful year of creative teaching. One day I found this post about using PVC pipe to make this giant xylophone/marimba. I pinned it to my summer camp board for later use. Well, later did arrive and I scurried off to the hardware store to pick up some 1.5 inch PVC pipe, some elbow joints, and brackets to hold the pipe onto the frame. (No pictures of the raw materials)
The pipes after we cut and tuned them. I found a formula online to help me determine approximate lengths. The formula was a bit generous so instead of rounding up for the initial cuts we started rounding down. We were able to get them tuned exact enough that they can be used in a duet with any instrument.
The pipes after we cut and tuned them. I found a formula online to help me determine approximate lengths. The formula was a bit generous so instead of rounding up for the initial cuts we started rounding down. We were able to get them tuned exact enough that they can be used in a duet with any instrument.
My dad built the frame for me and helped me screw the pipes onto it. The picture below is what it looks like after everything was mounted and set up to use for camp. My campers were very curious when they arrived about what it was.
Many tuned percussion instruments for teaching younger kids are often color coded to help those who are pre-reading. I colored the top of each tube to keep with the system so that it is compatible to specially written songs.
What do you use to play them with? My special "mallet" is just a fly swatter covered in duct tape. Or you can use the bottom of some sandals...I suggest buying a cheap pair and removing the straps instead of a broken in pair with a clothes pin on your nose.
RSS Feed
