Fast and easy and lots of fun, make a musical instrument out of straws.
Time: 10 minutes
Age: 5-10's, Over 10's
Level: Easy
Materials
Straws - preferably not the concertina type
Cut the straws into lengths, each one longer than the last.
Run a piece of sticky tape along the table, sticky side up.
Arrange the straws in order of length with the tops level.
Fold the sticky tape over and secure it.
Blow and move the pipes across to hear the different notes.
It's easier to blow into individual straws if they are spaced a bit, so use offcuts between each straw to spread them a bit.
You can try the following measurements to get a nicely tuned set of pipes (in cm):
Straw 1: 19.5
Straw 2: 17
Straw 3: 15.5
Straw 4: 14.5
Straw 5: 13
Straw 6: 11.5
Straw 7: 10
Straw 8: 9.5
It works - these pipes are nicely tuned!
Now number the straws from 1 to 8, longest straw is 1.
Here are some songs (a dash indicates a note of twice as long):
Ode to Joy:
3 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 3 - 2 -
3 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 2 - 1 -
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
1 1 5 5 6 6 5 - 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 -
5 5 4 4 3 3 2 - 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 -
1 1 5 5 6 6 5 - 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 -
5 - 1 2 3 4 5 - 1 - 1 -
6 - 4 5 6 7 8 - 1 - 1 -
4 - 5 4 3 2 3 - 4 3 2 1 1- 1 2 3 2 1 2
5 - 1 2 3 4 5 - 1 - 1 -
6 - 4 5 6 7 8 - 1 - 1 -
4 - 5 4 3 2 3 - 4 3 2 1 2 - 3 2 1 1 1 -
Now make up your own songs!
Categories
#Straw
#Musical Instrument
#Cheap
#5 to 10s
#Over 10s
#Easy
