Happy Top 10 Tuesday, blog readers!
Recently, I came across an excellent clip on YouTube of a group called “The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.” The banjo player is 9-years-old, and he and his brothers are phenomenally talented. It is incredible to see children playing their instruments with this much depth of learning and skill, and I thought it might be inspirational for other children to see them, too. Parents, you can also use performances like this one to encourage practicing if your child plays an instrument.
Here’s a picture of The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys from their website:
To read about this awesome trio and to learn about their band, here is a link to The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys website: http://www.sleepymanbanjoboys.com/
The Activity
To complete today’s activity, you will need two guiros for two people to play at the same time. Here is a picture of a guiro:
Click HERE to see the guiro on Amazon.com for purchase.
Understandably, you may not want to purchase two guiros to have in your house. Another idea is to recycle some water bottles with grooves and use them as an alternative to the traditional guiro. I actually made this craft as a Top 10 Tuesday music activity once. Click HERE to check it out. Of course, the traditional guiro will have a better sound, but the water bottle guiros are more economical.
Next, show your child a Youtube video of The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys hanging out at home playing “The Dueling Banjos.” Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFbWkL818XQ
Explain the concept of this song to your child. The guitarist is playing a line of music, and the banjo player is repeating what they play. The guitarist is getting increasingly more difficult and is trying to trick the banjo player. The banjo player holds his own and keeps up with the guitarist perfectly until the two just jam out neck and neck and play their hearts out. It’s an awesome song and will be a fun concept for your child to try with the guiros.
This is a great activity for siblings to try together as it really hones in on sibling rivalry in a clean and honest way.
Hand a guiro to each child explaining that they should take turns repeating patterns. Slide-Slide-tap, Slide-Tap-Slide-tap, Slide-Tap-Slide Slide-Tap-Slide…..etc. Your children (probably the older child) should make each pattern longer with each sequence. This is a memory game. The younger child will have to remember the pattern in order to play it.
Make sure you switch turns, and parents, you can jump in with turns, too, for a fun game of “dueling guiros!”
I hope you all have enjoyed today’s top 10 Tuesday music activity. Don’t forget to check back every week for some more musical fun. For a complete list of the Top 10 Tuesday musical instruments under $40 that will help promote music education in the home, click HERE. For an archive of previous musical activities, click HERE. Until next Tuesday, play on!!!
