Tag Archives: MYO gong

Win a Chinese New Year Music Mini Lesson!

CNY mini-lesson coverWant some hands-on fun for Chinese New Year?  This is our latest music mini-lesson created  to take kids, teachers and parents around the world through music, crafting and coloring fun.

Here’s what you’ll find inside the Chinese New Year mini-lesson.  You’ll find instructions to make a personal or class sized gong. You can decorate the gong with the animal symbol for this year or pick the symbol of the birth year for anyone you know. How do you find the animal associated with a birth year? We’ve got a handy chart so you can see if you are a dog, a snake an ox or a dragon. You might also be a horse or a sheep or goat or this year’s animal – the pig!

What would Chinese New Year be without a monkey drum (pellet drum) also Bolang Gu creft + real oneknown as a bolang gu. Did you know that bolang gu were originally used for special ceremonies but now are seen more as toys for young children? And what do you sing for Chinese New Year? You have to sing “Gong Xi Gong Xi”! We’ve included a page of lyrics for Gong Xi plus a translation and explanation so you can both sing and understand the Chinese New Year song.

Win a copy of the Chinese New Year Mini Lesson

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Screen shot 2018-11-15 at 7.25.00 PMMusic Mini Lessons

In addition to the Chinese New Year music mini lesson, we’ve created one to explore Australian Aboriginal music (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Australian-Aboriginal-Instruments-Music-Mini-Course-2816723), Instruments of India (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Instruments-of-India-Mini-Course-2682389), Ancient Instruments of the Middle East (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ancient-Instruments-From-The-Middle-East-Mini-Lesson-2127995) and even a complete E-book about growing up as a child in the Andes (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Childs-Life-In-The-Andes-E-Book-Plus-Music-CD-639838).

Chinese New Year Freebies

If you love this type of materials you might want to follow me on TPT, where they are all posted. Here’s direct links to just a few freebies you may like.

Follow me on TPT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/World-Music-With-Daria
year of the pigYear Of The Pig Coloring Page: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chinese-New-Year-Year-Of-The-Pig-Coloring-Page-4303192
Chart Of Years And Chinese Zodiac Signs: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chinese-Astrology-Birth-Year-Chart-4306472
Gong Xi Gong Xi Lyric Page: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Gong-Xi-Gong-Xi-Free-Lyric-Sheet-3629553

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A Rhythm Tree For Earth Day Or Any Day

Here’s a great project for Earth Day or a summer camp or group play activity. It’s a fun way to combine recycling and reusing materials with discovering rhythm and creative music-making.

A while back, we did a post about rhythm trees and you can find that listed below.  But since we also get questions about the best components for this project, we thought we’d share a list here, just in time for outdoor musical fun.

And remember, if you don’t have the perfect music tree, you can also do this project on a clothesline or between poles on a playground.

So here’s our top suggestions.

Pizza Pie Plate Gong

STARR GARDENS - a few instruments for Rhythm TreeThese sound great and provide a nice large surface for tapping and drumming. Look for used metal containers such as turkey pans or pizza pie plates. They can be painted and decorated and hung at various heights from your tree or clothesline. If you can find trash can lids or used pans or pots that aren’t too heavy, they might make a nice addition to the project as well.

Milk Jug Rattle

Rhythm tree - clothesline instrumentsClean a large plastic container and add some rattling components inside. Decorate the outside of the container, if you like as well.  Seal it up and hang it for a nice sound when tapped. If you hang it low enough, kids can also grab and shake or “swoosh” the container for a different kind of percussion sound.

A Giant Guiro

rhythm tree - paper towel roll guiroThreading together wrapping paper or poster tube rolls makes for a giant guiro. Take a stick or a whisk and brush it down the sides for a fun repeating percussive sound.

 

Hanging Log Drum

rhythm tree playing tubeIf you can find a large tube like these, you can hang it up and play it like the type of log drums found in Africa, the Pacific Islands or the Northern Native American tribes, like the Inuit.  Tapping different sections of the drum will produce slightly different sounds – what fun!

Play With Your Hands – Or With Recycled Mallets

homemade guiro and 6 raspsSome of the instruments you hang can be tapped or played with your hands. Easy mallets can also be created from wooden dowels, wooden spoons, sticks, unsharpened pencils, plastic spoons or forks, hair picks, chopsticks or similar objects.

 

What Else Can You Find To Make Music With?

little-guy-and-washboardThe best part of this project is seeing how creative kids can be with everyday items. Encourage your little ones to come up with suggestions of what else might become part of an amazing and fun musical tree.

Links and Resources

Make Your Own Rhythm Tree:  http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/classroom-music/a-music-tree-or-rhythm-clothesline-for-outdoor-musical-fun/

Natural Instruments – Sticks, Stones and Bamboo Percussion For Kids: http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/uncategorized/all-natural-instruments-sticks-stones-and-bamboo-percussion-for-kids/

Seven Awesome Summer Music Activities:  http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/early-learning-with-music/7-awesome-summer-music-ideas/

Turn A Milk Jug Into A Recycled Shekere: http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/classroom-music/turn-a-milk-jug-into-a-recycled-shekere/

Chinese New Year Music Crafts For Kids!

mandarinBoyRedHave you heard? February 8th marked the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year and it’s the year of the Fire Monkey.

If you’re unfamiliar with Chinese New Year, here is our compilation post that shares some wonderful ways to learn more and celebrate right in your home or classroom.  The first group of posts are music and music-related, but we just could not resist adding ones about food, fun and other festivities!

And stay tuned for our next post that teaches you a very familiar and easy-to-learn Chinese New Year song!

Music Crafts For Chinese New Year

Bolang Gu  - Craft versionMake a Bolang Gu – Monkey Drum https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monkey-Drum-Chinese-New-Year-Drum-Craft-1748044

Make Your Own Chinese Gong https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-Your-Own-Chinese-Gong-From-Recycled-Materials-486935

Explore and Make Tibetan Handbells https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Explore-Tibetan-Handbells-Plus-a-Make-Your-Own-Handbell-Craft-560016

Erhu - Color ImageColor an Erhu – A Two-Stringed Chinese Violin https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Erhu-Chinese-Violin-Instruments-From-Around-The-World-1037355

About Chinese New Year

“Gong Xi! Gong Xi!” – The Excitement of Chinese New Year https://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/gong-xi-gong-xi-the-excitement-of-chinese-new-year/

Chinese New Year ScrollsWhat To Expect In The Year of The Monkey http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/2016/01/18/year-of-the-monkey-chinese-new-year/

Chinese New Year Astrology Chart – Find Your Birth Year Here! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chinese-Astrology-Chart-What-Lunar-Year-Is-It-2377484b

dragon dance imageChinese New Year – Crafts And Creativity!

Chinese Dumplings For New Year  http://kidworldcitizen.org/2016/02/08/8935/

Lucky Money Envelops  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/lucky-money-envelopes

Chinese Paper Lantern Craft – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/462956036675678391/

How To Make Paper Fortune Cookies http://unsophisticook.com/how-to-make-paper-fortune-cookies/

Recipes To Celebrate Chinese New Year http://intheplayroom.co.uk/2015/01/26/chinese-recipes-celebrate-chinese-new-year/

Picture Books Celebrating Chinese New Year http://youthlitreviews.com/2014/01/13/chinese-new-year-books-for-kids/

Playing Music… And Learning Shapes!

washboard and tambourineHave you ever noticed that many simple musical instruments are also perfect for teaching shapes?

This week, while doing a preschool program, one of the quieter young boys became very excited about naming the shapes of the instruments we were making and playing.  He noticed the washboard he loved to play was in the shape of a rectangle.  And his sister had a tambourine that was shaped like the moon!  The other kids enjoyed the idea and pretty soon, we had gone through an entire basket of instruments finding all types of shapes in all kinds of different ways.

circle instrumentsFor instance, how many circles can you find in the instruments to the right?  We counted 12!

And what shapes are here in the tambourines and triangle below?

What a fun way to combine music and some of the basic skills that will help a child excel in school or in their homeschool learning.

triangle instrumentsDon’t have a basket of instruments around your home?

No worries, here are some simple musical crafts that will have you not only putting a circle in the square – but playing one, too!

 

SQUARES AND RECTANGLES

Make a Cajón Box Drum
Free from DARIA’s website
http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/MYO%20Cajon.pdf
Free from TPT
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Cajon-Make-And-Play-Your-Own-Box-Drum-1236616

Square Ocean Drum http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/Ocean%20Drum%20Instructions.pdf

CIRCLE

Bongo Drums
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-And-Play-Your-Own-Bongo-Drums-1430615

click-and-clack-the-castanetsButton Castanets
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-Your-Own-Button-Castanets-1439711

Chinese Gong
http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/chinesegong.pdf
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-Your-Own-Chinese-Gong-From-Recycled-Materials-486935

Triangle

wooden sistrumEgyptian Rattle  http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/naturalsistrum.pdf

Explore More

Can you think of more simple shapes that are found in instruments? Let us know and we’ll feature them here!

Find lots more DIY/MYO Crafts on Daria’s website craft and activity page:
http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

Or her TeachersPayTeachers Store:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Daria-Marmaluk-Hajioannou

Celebrate Chinese (Lunar) New Year With A Year of The Sheep Gong!

sheep gong craft picBang a gong and everyone listens!

Gongs are amazing, loud, inspiring instruments, but where can you find one?  If you have some basic supplies, then you can craft one right in your own home or classroom.  And you can decorate your new gong with a Chinese zodiac symbol or some other creative theme.

Supplies

Large metal pan (like a recycled pie tin, pizza pan, or a turkey roasting pan)
Pipecleaners or yarn
a smaller pie-tin gongStick, broomstick or long cardboard tube
Paint, stickers, glitter, glue or textured paint for decorating the gong
12 – 18” wooden dowel or wooden spoon (for the drum beater)
Colorful tape (for the drum beater)

Step By Step Directions

You can find step-by-step instructions as a pdf on DARIA’s world music for kids website or in her TeachersPayTeachers store.  Both are free, here:

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

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-Your-Own-Chinese-Gong-From-Recycled-Materials-486935

horse gong imageWhat Year Is It?

In February 2015, we’ve entered into the year of the sheep or the goat.   You can see an image of a ram on the pie tin gong at the top of this post!  But, there are 12 Chinese Zodiac signs so you may also want to use any of the other animals as part of your design.  You might also want to find out what year you were born in.

Take a look at the chart below and you can find out if you are a pig, an ox, a monkey or a rat!

Chinese ZodiacLinks and Resources

Bolang Gu on redMake Your Own Bolang Gu  (Monkey Drum)
http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/chinese-mandarin/make-your-own-bolang-gu-chinese-pellet-drum

Kids Music Videos of Chinese New Year Drums and Celebrations
http://multikidsmusicvids.com/?cat=97

Two Popular Chinese New Years Songs
http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/chinese-mandarin/two-wonderful-songs-to-celebrate-chinese-new-year

“Gong Xi! Gong Xi!” – The Excitement of Chinese New Year
http://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/gong-xi-gong-xi-the-excitement-of-chinese-new-year/

Bang a Gong!

blue nipple gongBang a gong and every pays attention!

Tap a gong and you got a quiet, calming, resounding tone.

Gongs are wonderful instruments made from a circular metal object that hangs on a stand and is tapped or struck by a stick or beater.  Some are simple and plain.  Others are decorated beautifully with designs etched into the surface and hung on elaborately carved wooden stands.  All of them create beautiful notes when played.

What Can You Do With A Gong?

Gongs are great for marking time.  They are perfect for starting a day or an activity.  They can call kids in from recess or playtime or announce that a meal is ready.  They are a perfect addition to any home play, homeschool or classroom environment as well as a great way to learn about the culture of China, Tibet, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries where these play an important role in the cultural and religious life of the people.

Make Your Own Gong!

a smaller pie-tin gongDo you need a big budget to acquire a gong?  No way!  If you have a metal item such as a pie tin or recycled turkey roasting pan, you can craft your own unique gong.  Here are the supplies you’ll need:

Supplies

Metal pan

Broomstick, long stick or cardboard tube from inside wrapping paper

Yarn, string or pipecleaners

Materials for decorating the gong

Two chairs (to use as the stand for the gong)

horse gongInstructions

You can find step-by-step instructions in the pdf below, but basically, you decorate the pan, poke two small holes about 2 – 3 inches apart, slip string, yarn or pipecleaners through each hole and hang your gong from a broomstick or cardboard tube.  A makeshift stand is easily made from two chairs positioned back to back.

Last, to create a beater for your gong, cover a stick or wooden spoon with a bit of red felt or silk and tie it around the top.  Then experiment with the sound when touching it lightly, tapping harder or by striking several times in a row.  Below is a video of a serious gong being played to give you some  inspiration.

Decorate Your Gong

January 31st, 2014 marks the Chinese New Year and we welcome in the year of the horse.  It can be fun to create a gong with the theme of the New Year or to look up your birth year and make a gong with a pig, a rat, a sheep or a dragon.  Find a chart of birth years and Chinese Zodiac signs in the pdf below, along with more suggestions for making and playing this fun world music craft!

Resources

Step-By-Step Instructions/Make Your Own Gong And Chinese Zodiac Symbols PDF

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

What Does The Gong Say?