Tag Archives: Guiro

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Color The Instruments from Hispanic Heritage!

Screen shot 2014-09-27 at 12.22.10 PMWho doesn’t love to color?

And did you know that the guitar traces it’s roots to Spain? And in South American, there’s an instrument made from the actual shell of an armadillo? Coloring pages can be a great way to get creative as well as dive into any study or exploration of music. Since September 15 – October 15th is Hispanic Heritage month, we wanted to share a few of our reader’s favorite coloring freebies featuring instruments that come from the diversity of Hispanic cultures.

And if coloring isn’t enough, check out the free E-book listed below where you can make crafty versions of 10 different instruments that also come from the Hispanic world. Castanets, cajitas or box drums, anyone?

Guitar

Color A Guitar – ONLINE  http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Guitar.php

Free Printable From TeachersPayTeachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guitar-Coloring-Page-649967

Screen shot 2014-09-27 at 4.30.37 PMCharango (Small Stringed Instrument Made From An Armadillo Shell) 

Free Printable From DARIA’s website

http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/CharangoColoringPage.pdf

Cajón (A Box Drum From Afro-Peruvian Culture)

Color A Cajon – ONLINE

http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Cajon.php

Chapchas (A Rattle Made From Goat’s Toenails) 

Free Printable From TeachersPayTeachers  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Color-The-Chapchas-An-Instrument-from-The-Andes-650050

Bombo ( A Large South American Drum) 

Screen shot 2014-09-27 at 12.22.27 PMFree Printable From TeachersPayTeachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Color-A-Bombo-A-Drum-From-The-Andes-650642

Guiro

Color A Guiro – ONLINE http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Guiro.php

Zampoñas (Panpipes From The Andes) 

Free Printable From TeachersPayTeachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Color-the-Zamponas-Panpipes-From-The-Andes-65060

HHM-coverResources And Links

10 Musical Crafts To Celebrate Hispanic Heritage -Free Until October 31st on DARIA’s website:

http://www.dariamusic.com/monthly_song.php

Available Anytime From TeachersPayTeachers ($8.99)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Celebrate-Hispanic-Heritage-Musical-Craft-And-Coloring-E-Book-1427919

Additional Coloring Pages With Musical Instruments From All Over the World http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

 

 

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Easiest Instruments For Young Children – The Guiro!

The guiro is a perfect “first instrument” to share with young children.  It’s incredibly simple and versatile at the same time.  In a matter of minutes, a child can be exploring the sounds created by the guiro and making rhythms by rubbing the rasp back and forth or up and down along the surface of the guiro.

What Is A Guiro?

Although you can find similar instruments all over the world, a guiro is an instrument with Latin American roots that was originally made from wood, bone or gourds carved to have a ridged surface.  In the picture above you can see a bone guiro from Mexico, a wooden version and a homemade guiro made from a recycled plastic water bottle.  Some modern guiros are made of plastic or metal as well.

homemade guiro and 6 raspsPlay A Guiro With A Rasp

To play a guiro you rub an object across the ridges on the surface of your instrument.  Older guiros often have sharp metal rasps so it can be useful to substitute more child-safe choices.  Here are some fun ways to create sound on a guiro.  They include hair picks, plastic spoons/forks/sporks, chopsticks, an egg whisk or an unsharpened pencil.  Each will create a slightly different sound when used to play the guiro.

Make A Simple Guiro

Since it’s unlikely that you have the perfect dried gourd or an old bone lying around your house, start this musical craft in your recycling bin.  Sort through the plastic bottles to see if you have one that has ridges and is sturdy enough to use in this project.

Although your plastic bottle guiro is ready to play “as is”, you can also add some decoration inside the bottle and seal it up before you begin to play. You can look for things like confetti or colorful paper shreds.  Or you can choose to add objects that will make the bottle work as a rattle as well.  To make a guiro that doubles as a rattle, add a small amount of any on-hand material such as bird seed, beads, pebbles or dried beans, rice or pasta.

paper shred guiroIf you’ve add anything to the inside, it’s a good idea to seal the bottle with a strong tape; such as electrical tape, so the contents will stay inside and keep the bottle from being opened when played.  You might even want to attach your rasp to the guiro with some colorful ribbon or yarn as in the example here

Play Your Guiro!

You’ve probably already figured this out!  The guiro is played by scraping back and forth or up and down along the ridges.  You can put on some of your favorite music and let your child experiment with what sounds good to them.  Or you can learn some basic rhythms together with your child.  Here are some fun ways to begin.

Try playing along with a whole song by just scraping down or by just scraping up.

Try playing along with a song by scraping: down/up, down/up, down/up.

Try playing along with a song by scraping:

down/up – down/up/down…, down/up – down/up/down…

Discover the patterns that sound good to your ear or write a new song to go along with a rhythm you’ve just discovered.  If you start with this simple and clever little instrument, there’s no telling how much creative musical fun you can have!

Related Links:

See, Hear and Color A Guiro Here:

http://www.dariamusic.com/guiro.php

Play Along With A Bilingual Version of La Cucaracha here: