Homemade Musical Instruments For Children

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Selecting Authentic Native American Hand Drums For Playing by Craig Chambers

As an interior designer, I have always loved Native American hand drums for their natural beauty when used for rustic decor, and for the significant role they play in American Indian drum music. Most people I meet do not realize that these hand drums are among the most famous cultural icons in the world. For hundreds of years, American Indian people relied on their belief in the extraordinary power of these drums for spiritual and healing purposes, and have always thought of the hand drum as a prized possession among all Native American musical instruments.

Even though all Native American drums have comparable characteristics about them, you may not realize that native drums vary in many ways depending on the tribe. Some tribes use the hand drum exclusively in secret ceremonies, whereas in others, they are the main focus of the public event or powwow.

Native people also use these hand held musical instruments for dance, personal meditating and in sweat lodges. No matter how they are used, the hand drum still plays a key role in American Indian music and in Native culture today.

When purchasing one of these beautiful drums to add to your western style home decor or for playing in a drum circle, it is important to choose one made with quality materials similar to the original materials used. The traditional, all natural hand held drums used throughout Native American history, were made of wood cut from a downed tree trunk.

When cut properly, the long thin strip of wood curled to form a ring that measured two to six feet in length, depending on the size of the hand drum desired. Once the drum ring was properly bent, it was held with one end overlapping the other and held in place with a piece of rawhide lacing. Allowed to dry naturally in the open air, the remaining wetness in the hand drum hoop would evaporate, allowing the ring to shrink to the right size.

As you study the history of the many tribal hand drums made, you will notice that they were covered on either one, or both sides of the drum hoop with animal skin. Various woods and hides were used depending on the Indian tribe and where they were located geographically, but the most used materials were pine, and goat skin.

These days, Native American hand drums are made using a variety of animal hides, but traditionally, goat skin rawhide was the preferred skin because of its stretching ability and sound quality.

Now days, you can quickly find Native American hand drums online and in stores that specialize in western and American Indian home decor. Whether placed on the wall in a cabin or lodge to enhance rustic decor, or simply being used for ceremonial drumming and music groups, these Native drums will add great character to your home and environment.

If you are impressed with authenticity and traditional American Indian values, you will definitely enjoy having and displaying authentic Native American hand drums.

Craig Chambers is the director of Mission Del Rey and offers free tips online about choosing Native American hand drums for playing in drumming groups and Native ceremonies. For more information visit http://www.missiondelrey.com

Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Selecting-Authentic-Native-American-Hand-Drums-For-Playing/355652

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Learning to Play the Harmonica-Should you Consult a Harmonica Teacher by Constantine Lekendiros

The harmonica has almost become a trademark of blues music. Harmonicas where initially brought to the United States in the 1800′s and have over 100 years of history in North America.

Initially the harmonica was the instrument of the poor but just as blues music began to come into the mainstream the harmonica gained mainstream recognition.

Another reason why the harmonica became popular because it is relatively easy to play. Anyone can learn to play the harmonica as long as they are willing to learn a few basic concepts regarding the instrument.

The best way to learn to play an instrument to pick one up and start experimenting with the sounds. Although it wouldnt be a bad idea to get formal instructions by someone who understands the harmonica at some point, you can start learning how to use the harmonica on your own.

Some harmonicas are even sold with introductory instructions on how to play them. Even certain Hohner harmonicas come with small booklets that will allow you to learn how to play.

The most important thing you will need to learn about harmonicas are the chords. Understanding melodies is one thing that will really help you when learning the harmonica. If you have previous experience with other instruments then learning how to play the harmonica will be easy.

After you acquire the basic knowledge about the harmonic, you can easily improve your skills by regularly practicing playing this beautiful instrument. Practice makes perfect is a saying that applies perfectly to harmonica playing.

Most musicians find that there are two ways to learn to play an instrument even the harmonica. The first way is to consult a teacher to learn the basics. Another way of learning how to play the harmonica is to listen to the harmonica masters, harmonica tunes played by other musicians.

The fist thing you will learn about playing the harmonica is holding the instrument. Holding is the most important and basic concept. To start you need to hold the harmonica with the numbers on top. When you play the harmonica, the lower notes should be on
the left, so that as you play from left to right the notes play from low to high.

After you practice holding the harmonic for a while then you will need to practice playing single notes. The best way to get a feel of how single notes sound on the harmonica is to block off the holes to the left and right of the instrument with your fingers, and then start blowing in the hole in between your fingers. This way you should get a feel of how a single note on the harmonica sounds like.

Overall, the harmonic is not a difficult instrument to learn. What is difficult is how to learn how to play well. That will come with practice. The more your practice playing the harmonica the better you will be. If you don’t own a harmonica you can acquire a good harmonica designed for beginners.

Hohner makes a few good quality simple harmonicas for you to choose one. Always remember to check online for harmonicas and other musical instruments.

Get your self a new Hohner Harmonica on Sale. A good beginners set of harmonicas is the Hohner Piedmont Blues harmonicas with brass reeds. If you are looking for a good chromatic harmonica consider the Honer Super Chromonica harmonica

Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Learning-to-Play-the-Harmonica-Should-you-Consult-a-Harmonica-Teacher/423821