This book puts the "play" back in music with inventive ideas for simple homemade instruments and creative instructions for orchestrating sound and rhythm with delightful results - no prior musical experience required!
Music is for everyone - no prior experience required!
Make Music! invites kids and families to celebrate the joy of sound with a variety of inventive activities, including playing dandelion trumpets, conducting percussion conversations, and composing their own pieces.
Musician and educator Norma Jean Haynes brings the pioneering work of Ann Sayre Wiseman and John Langstaff to a new generation of kids ages 5 and up, focusing on the playfulness, spontaneity, and creativity of music. Kids explore rhythm with clapping, body drumming, and intonations. They learn to create found sound with kitchen pots and pans, the Sunday paper, or even the Velcro on their sneakers. And step-by-step instructions show how to make 35 different instruments, from chimes and bucket drums to a comb kazoo and a milk-carton guitar.
Book Features:
- Opens up the creativity of music to everyone. Unlike other books on sharing music with children, Make Music! does not require that parents or teachers be musicians or know how to read music. This approach gives non-musicians confidence to engage kids with all levels of musical knowledge in the sheer joy and playfulness of making music.
- Teaches music fundamentals in a lighthearted way, inviting kids to be performers, composers, and conductors. With decades of experience in creative arts instruction, the authors share their special techniques for engaging kids with music through irresistibly fun activities for creating rhythm, composing, conducting, and performing together.
- Features how-to instructions for making 35 inventive instruments. From pot-cover cymbals to castanets, tambourines, bugles, flutes, wind harps, and more, step-by-step photos and instructions show how to make a range of instruments from household and found materials.
About the Authors
Norma Jean Haynes is the author of
Make Music! She is a musician and music educator who performs her own original compositions for banjo and ukulele, along with traditional song and dance.
Ann Sayre Wiseman has led arts and crafts workshops around the world for more than 30 years.
The late John Langstaff was known internationally for his ability to unlock any child's innate musical ability.
Industry Reviews
"This is a luscious book that will inspire and delight. Open any page and let it carry you. The photos make each activity accessible. Every classroom and every family will feel uplifted and welcomed into the world of music." -- Sarah Pirtle, founder of The Children's Music Network and recipient of the Magic Penny Award
"This is the must-have guide for music-making with children. It will inspire every child's inner composer and encourage all of us to follow our ears." -- Alice Burba, Songs for Teaching
"A great book for anyone (musicians and non-musicians alike!) looking to make music a regular part of family life. The authors offer inventive and remarkably simple ways to create your own music, using your first "instruments" (your voice and body) along with ordinary, found items. This playful, practical guide will open your eyes to the myriad of sounds and sound-producing possibilities that surround us every day. In today's fast-paced, push-button, screen-time world, this book is a breath of fresh air for any music-loving family." -- Susan Darrow, Chief Executive Officer, Music Together Worldwide
