Build Your Own Xylophone

1. Gather the following materials.

   • 4 (or more) glass jars of the same size and shape. Mason jars or drinking glasses work well.

   • Wooden sticks, such as craft sticks, popsicle sticks, or wooden chopsticks

   • Water

   • Food coloring (optional)

2. Use a wood stick to tap on each empty jar. Do you notice that when they are empty, they all make the same sound?

3. Fill each jar with a different amount of water. You can be very exact, measuring out 1 cup, 1/2 cup, etc., or be approximate. Add food coloring to the water to make it more colorful and to help tell each jar apart from the others.

4. Tap your jars again, noticing the different sounds. You will notice that more water means a lower pitch. Less water means a higher pitch.

   • When you tap the glass jar, you create a sound wave. When you add water, the sound travels through water and that changes the sound wave. When the sound wave changes, we hear a different pitch!

5. See if you can get their water levels to make three next-door-neighbor notes: do, re, and mi. With those, try to play a simple, three-note melody like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Hot Cross Buns.

Want to know more about mallet instruments? Check out our lesson all about mallet instruments!