INSTRUMENT BUILDING (grades 2-12)

During this residency, the class, using found objects and recycled materials, makes instruments and then plays them as an ensemble. This curriculum includes developing construction techniques for hand-made instruments and a study of the variety of music of indigenous cultures around the world, including examples of their folk instruments. The teacher will lead the class through creating or altering an instrument; understanding the physics of sound and the as vibratory qualities of different materials; combining strings and solid objects to create sounding boards; the difference between plucked and bowed strings; and the various sound qualities of objects when they are struck by different objects.  The class will then create an ensemble piece, using their constructed instruments, to share with others.

The program usually ends with a shared performance.