A kazoo is one of the easiest and most fun melodic musical instruments that children can play well. As children will need to vocalize or sing in order for the kazoo to make sounds, this quality kazoo is also an ideal instrument for encouraging children to experiment with their voice.
How To Play a Kazoo
Start by humming through the short end of the plastic kazoo and it does make a difference which end you hum through. The air should come out of the long bit, but the sound itself comes out of the round thing on the top. Start by trying a music scale: DO-RE-ME-FA-SO-LA-TI-DO. Then try for example humming nursery rhymes such as baa baa black sheep. Make the sound of a FAST sports car! or a police siren. Try a dinosaur sound or a mosquito sound and then finally play Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
Sounds you can make with the Kazoo
Animal Kazoo: bee, mosquito, humming bird, eagle, dinosaurs!
Machine sounds: sports car (change gears), cars passing by, fire truck siren, police car, motorcycle, car horn, 'may I take your order please' via a loud speaker - be creative!
Musical Instrument Sounds: electric rock guitar, saxaphone, synthesizer, trumpet, trombone, tuba.
Kazoos in Birthday Parties: sing happy birthday, funny warm-ups, party bags, everybody kazoos along!
Clowns: a signature instrument, make up your own theme songs, sound effects comedy, give away kazoos, form parades with kazoos
Musicians: Solos on the kazoo, give kazoos to children and let them joing the band
More Ideas for Playing the Kazoo
Kazoo concerts for parents
Kazoo caroling
Add kazoo music to a play, skit or story
Decorate your kazoos with stickers
Have a matching kazoo band
Kazoo old favorites for older people
Add percussion instruments to kazoo sounds
Songs in which you can hear kazoos being played:
The Grateful Dead - Alligator
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Lovely Rita
Jimi Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic
The Cure - The Walk
Gomez family - Spancil Hill
Hawk Nelson - Hello
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Love Rollercoaster
Weird Al Yankovic - Smells Like Nirvana
Joanie Sommers - Johnny Get Angry
Pink Floyd - Corporal Clegg, Jugband Blues
The Kinks - She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina
The Spinto Band - Brown Boxes
Sparky's Flaw - One Small Step EP
The Killers - Bling
Blind Melon - Skinned
Ringo Starr - You're Sixteen
Kazoos are used in jug bands, comedy music, summer carnivals and by amateurs everywhere in the world. Similar musical instruments were used in Africa for hundreds of years to disguise voices or imitate animals for cerimonial purposes and from this a Kazoo was designed by someone called Alabama Vest who was an African American in the 19th centrury. They were first marketed in 1852.
CAUTION: Continued Kazoo playing can be very annoying to family members!
Ages: 36 months+
