Creating with "Found Sounds"

There is an indescrible energy to Latin American music—but if you know your music theory, it's not so indescrible after all. A thorough packet provides definitions for terms like bolero, charanga, shekere, and tumbao before listing...

Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...

Groups create, memorize, and perform for the class a 4 beats per measure rhythm pattern using percussion instruments including xylophones, rhythm sticks, and drums. The pattern is recorded on the worksheet provided in the resource.

Using a potter’s wheel to make functional art is an experience not common to most people. Provide your learners with a chance to see what pottery making is all about with an app that allows them to create pots, fire them, decorate them,...

Discover the rich cultural traditions and remarkable ingenuity of indigenous people and African slaves by learning about one of the most popular percussion instruments in the world today.

Take a musical journey around the world with a short video that demonstrates the value of using the wheel method of representing rhythm, rather than the usual notes on a musical bar line. 

What causes sound? Groups of sound detectives use a variety of tools including ping pong balls, pasta noodles, raisins, rubber mallets, and a tuning fork to investigate what causes sound. The young Sherlocks conduct a series of...

Your class can create their own Samurai identity with craft paper and a little imagination. Learners will discuss what life was like for a Samurai warrior, and then they will make representations of what they would look like as a...

Young scholars create a group wall drawing that demonstrate the contributions that each part makes to the whole.

Young musicians explore the rhythms and sounds of Balinese gamelan music, then create their own. They listen to several examples of gamelan music, then use their instruments to mimic the rhythms they hear. After a warm up and practice,...