Djembe (JEM-bay):
a West African drum; made from wood, with ropes to adjust the sound, and an animal skin head (top of the drum).
CLICK TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE DJEMBE: Djembe
Balafon:
an African xylophone, made with wooden bars, and gourds underneath to make the sound louder.
CLICK TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE BALAFON: Balafon
Kora:
a West African string instrument, made with a gourd covered with animal skin; it has 21 strings!
CLICK TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE BALAFON: Kora
Give African dance moves a try by watching the second video and following along!
Click on the following Latin American instruments to learn about how they sound and what they look like.
Now watch the video to the left and look for the instruments you just learned about!
Watch out: Only 5 of these instruments are actually in the video to the left. See if you can find those 5!
India's traditional and current music has a lot to do with their movie making, which is often called "Bollywood."
1. To the left, you can watch a music video from an Indian (or Bollywood) movie.
2. Learn easy steps to traditional Indian dances here!
Watch the video to the left.
What do you notice about their clothes?
What do you like about these dances?
What do you notice about the drum beat?
If you were to create a Pow-wow dance, what might it look like? What steps would you use? What drum beat would you like to hear?
Watch the video to the left.
Norway is a country in Northern Europe, which experiences a lot of cold temperatures. To celebrate their heritage, these Norwegian people use ice to create all different kinds of musical sounds!
What instrument could you create using ice next winter?
A Taiko is a kind of Japanese drum that is shaped like a barrel.
When Japanese musicians perform using Taiko, they move in a very special way, and are very careful to move together.
Watch the video!
How many hours do you think they practiced in order to be able to perform like this?
What was your favorite musical culture? What did you like about it?
What makes music from around the world different than the music you know?
We saw some interesting instruments so far, but watch the video to the left if you want to see even more wild instruments!
Watch the video to the left. Pick an instrument that you have the materials for at home, and get started!