Homemade Musical Instrument: Water Glass Xylophone

There are a lot of fun musical instruments that you can make at home from drums to tambourines. Music helps to make kids feel better and gives them something fun to do while they are stuck at home. But, not all instruments calm our nerves. Drums are fun for kids to beat on, but they may also cause the parents to get a headache. So, let’s take a look at some fun instruments that can be played without making too much noise as the kids are learning to play them. One of the neatest instruments to make at home with a nice sound is the water glass xylophone.

Kids and parents can both learn about sound waves, echolocation and so much more. What is even better, you will have all of the tools at home to make the water glass xylophone.

What you will need:

• 4 to 6 tall glasses (they should be the same shape and size)
• Pitcher of Water
• Spoon or other object to use as a mallet

Steps to making the perfect water glass xylophone:

1. Line up the empty glasses. Tap each glass with your spoon and listen to the sounds that each one makes. Do they all sound the same?
2. Fill the first glass with water almost to the top with your pitcher of water.
3. Fill the second glass about an inch lower than the first glass.
4. Repeat step 2 until all glasses are filled with each glass having about 1 inch less of water than the previous one.
5. Tap each glass with your spoon and listen to the different sounds each one makes.
6. Now, you can play a song like “Mary Had A Little Lamb” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
7. Note: you may need to fine-tune the amount of water in each glass to get even steps in the sounds to play your song. 

So What Did You Learn?

Take some time to go over what you learned from your new homemade instrument. Sound waves can travel through water and when the amount of water and the container changes, the sound changes. The glass with more water had more matter for the sound to travel through which causes the vibrations to become larger and produce sound with a lower pitch. The glass with the least amount of water created a sound with a higher pitch.

We hope you have fun with the project and this new homemade instrument.