All play ideasBottle xylophone tuning

Bottle xylophone tuning

Fill jars with different depths of water and tune them into a scale you can actually play.

Age 4 to 6 · Reception to Year 2Age 7 to 9 · Year 3 to Year 4IndoorRainy daySenses week

More water, lower note. Tuning a jar by ear is proper listening practice.

What you need

  • Five or six glass jars or bottles
  • A jug of water
  • A metal spoon
  • Food colouring if you like

How to do it

  1. 1

    Line the jars up and half fill the middle one.

  2. 2

    Tap it with the spoon and listen carefully.

  3. 3

    Add water to the next jar until it sounds lower, and take water out for higher notes.

  4. 4

    Keep adjusting until you have five notes going up in steps.

  5. 5

    Play a simple tune such as Twinkle Twinkle, then swap and copy each other.

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