What do Raisin Bran and rock ‘n’ roll have in common?
Find out with today's at home activity, Cereal Box Guitars. Not only will your kid end up with a sweet new axe, they’ll learn the relationship between vibration and sound, and investigate what makes pitch. We’ve even included some vocab words below to help facilitate the conversation.
You’ll be strumming along in no time!
Cereal Box Guitars
Goals:
Understand the connection between vibration and sound
Investigate how to change pitch
Children will:
Make a string instrument
What you’ll need:
Sturdy box such as a cereal box
Tape
Scissors
3 to 5 rubber bands that will stretch around the box (try to find ones of different thicknesses)
2 stick-like items like pencils, straws, pens, or sticks
How to:
Close all sides of your box and tape down the flaps—your box must be sturdy to hold the tension from the rubber bands.
Cut a hole in the center of the box. You can draw it first but it doesn’t have to be round.
Cutting tip: Make a small hole inside the shape using a push pin or a nail. Enlarge it and cut out the shape with scissors.
Stretch the rubber bands lengthwise around the box, lining them up over the sound hole. Pluck or strum the rubber bands like you would a guitar. Do you like the way they sound? How could you make them sound better?
Hint: When strings vibrate without hitting the surface for the box, they sound more musical.
Slide one straw or pencil under all the strings near the top of the box and another near the bottom. These bridges will suspend the rubber bands above your sound hole. Pluck the strings again, how do they sound different since adding the bridge?
Try strumming your favorite tune or make one up together!
Going further:
Experiment with different rubber bands. How does the thickness of the rubber bands affect the sound?How about their length? What makes the sound go higher? Go lower? Try moving a bridge up or down your box while you pluck the strings. Is the pitch higher or lower?
Make more guitars with different size boxes. How does the size of the box change the overall highs and lows of the sounds?
Vocabulary:
String instruments - musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings
Tension - the thickness and tightness of the strings changes the overall pitch
Bridge - creating a bridge for our instrument will allow the strings to vibrate freely and to not hit against the base of our instrument causing a buzzing sound
Tone - if the length or tension of the string is changed, the sound created is a musical tone