– Making an improvisation and band instrument –

* The skiffle box is a real all-rounder: you can play grooves on its single bass string, you can use it as a small drum, you can scratch and tap on its metal sheet and play melodies on a bamboo kazoo. It facilitates the starting of small bands, and it is conceived especially for improvised playing. Equipped with a small pickup and a miniature guitar amp, it sounds almost like an electric guitar. It was developed by Mr. Heimer and is inspired by skiffle music, a style that involves jazzing and jamming on washboards, tea chest basses, pianos and guitars.

 

Brief Description
The aim of this project is to start a “small factory for musical instruments”, founded by teachers and pupils, in a playful way. The plan is that it will make professionally tunable instruments for the pupils themselves on the one hand, and that it will make and sell instruments to various “customers” on the other. The “revenues” will be used to fund necessary support for buying small guitar amps, etc. The project offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary cooperation. In doing so, a teamworking tool developed by Mr Miller and Mr Heimers will be applied. The <Team~Päd> allows for group processes to be structured and controlled systematically and related to processes and results following the Coverdale method.

German lessons

Pupils can come up with a small flyer/brochure describing the main features of the instrument (the skiffle box – their crafts teacher’s own invention) and advertising it in a writing and pictorial style suitable for children.
Free writing of short song and rap lyrics, inspired by the children’s everyday experiences.
Drawing up a set of instructions to write lyrics.
Drawing up playing instructions for the instrument.
Making short videos for learning the playing technique.

Art lessons

Developing designs for decorating / personalizing the skiffle box’ surfaces.
Painting and drawing sketches.
Different techniques, e.g. pyrography, wood staining with stencils, etc.
Design of a logo.

Music lessons

Developing a basic repertory of rhythmic patterns and foundational structural elements from Blues, song accompaniment, and skiffle

Learning the following techniques:

1. Bass grooves, glissandi
2. Simple melodies on the kazoo and the bass string
3. Accompaniment with single sounds
4. Drum rhythms (basic)
5. Scratching and tapping techniques on the sheet metal

Making short instructional videos about playing techniques.
Preparation of short presentations
Inclusion of skiffle box music in school concerts
Skiffle box band battle

Crafts lessons

Making the skiffle boxes in small production teams. Teachers and pupils draw up the quality requirements together and regularly and systematically evaluate the results and the processes following the Coverdale method.
The children work with technical devices developed by the crafts teacher which enable the elementary school pupils to work at a professional level. They learn manufacturing techniques and develop them further based on their own results.
At the “Ahrensburger Weg“ primary school in Hamburg, pupils in years three and four have been making various instruments for seven years now. These instruments are used in the school’s concerts. The children are meant to learn by experience how much diligence and time are required to make a beautiful-sounding instrument. They also get to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when they hold their “masterpiece” in their hands and use it to make music.
We have found that even children who would otherwise not learn to play an instrument are greatly motivated by this project. This is especially true for children that live in families for whom buying an instrument presents a financial challenge.

Contact:

Stefan Heimers
Grundschule Ahrensburger Weg
Ahrensburger Weg 16
22359 Hamburg

stefanheimers@gmx.de