10 Easiest Musical Instruments to Make at Home

If you’re looking to unleash your creativity, or just trying to find an idea for your kid’s school project, take a look at our list of the ten easiest musical instruments to make at home.

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September 5, 2017

There are tons of unique homemade instruments that you can try out! Without further ado, let’s get our list of 10 easiest musical instruments to make at home started.

10. Popsicle Stick Kalimba

Items Needed: 6, Popsicle sticks, wooden blocks, paper glue, wood glue, Paper plates, Scissors

You will need two paper plates, two wooden blocks, 5-6 Popsicle sticks and glue and scissors to be able to make the Popsicle Stick Kalimba. The process is fairly simple. You just need to glue the two paper plates together, cut a hole in the center of one of the plates, then glue one block of wood at the base of the hole and put the Popsicle sticks in the arrangement where the center pieces are longer than the edges. Glue the other block of wood on top of the first one sandwiching the Popsicle sticks, and voila you have your Popsicle Stick Kalimba. Of course, you are free to customize your Popsicle Stick Kalimba to your heart’s content with stickers, glitters, and drawings.

9. PVC Pipe Flute

Items Needed: 6, PVC pipe, hand drill, wine cork, hand saw, sand paper, the template for cutting holes 

For this, you are going to need some PVC pipe preferably about 15 to 18 inches long. The standard thickness for such flutes is around 3 -4 millimeters, as it will be easier to cut holes in them. You will also need a wine bottle cork to seal off the edges. You can download a detailed template, and print it out to make things easier for you to work on and that’s all you need. Do not forget to sand the rough edges down with some sand paper.

8. Cardboard Guitar

Items Needed: 6, Cardboard box, rubber bands, straws, masking/scotch tape, scissors, pencil

Guitars are cool, no matter what they are made of. For this particular cardboard guitar, you will need a cereal box, a roll of masking tape a few rubber bands for the strings and a few straws to make the bridge. The cereal box will form the body of the guitar, and the masking tape will hold it all together, and that’s it — you will have a cardboard guitar to play with your kids. If you are feeling creative, you can then play around with the design a little bit as well, to give it a unique look.

7. Drinking Straw Pan Flute 

Items Needed: 5, Straws, masking/scotch tape, pliers, lighter, scissors

For this, all you need is a bunch of drinking straws (about 8 or more), and the idea is to change the pitch of the flute by varying the size of the vibration chambers. You can do that by cutting the drinking straws at different lengths and reducing the size of the opening by squeezing them with pliers and heating them for a brief period. After you are done the cutting and closing the ends of the straws, all you need to do is just line them up in the shape of a pan flute formation and use some adhesive tape to bind the whole arrangement together.

6. Homemade Harmonica

Items Needed: 5, Popsicle sticks, paper, rubber bands, toothpicks, scissors 

We are half way through our list of 10 easiest musical instruments to make at home, and at number 5 we have the homemade Harmonica, which is a straightforward and fun musical instrument to make at home. To make Harmonica, you will need a couple of Popsicle sticks, rubber bands, a sheet of paper, a toothpick, and tape. You need to cut the paper as thick as the Popsicle sticks you are using, then place the paper in between the two sticks, wrap the rubber bands on both edges, and slide the toothpicks in between the two Popsicle sticks.

5. Easter Egg Maracas

Items Needed: 4, Spoons, Easter eggs, masking/scotch tape, rice

Maracas are a traditional musical instrument found in Cuba and Latin American countries. It is effortless to make, and the method we are going to use today simplifies the process even further. If you have a bunch of Easter eggs lying around, then you already have the main component ready. All you need to do now is fill the eggs with rice, and glue them shut. Also, grab hold of a pair of spoons and place the egg inside the spoons and wrap tape around it.

4. Kazoo

Items Needed: 4, paper, rubber band, wax paper, scissors

If you know how to hum, you can play the kazoo. It is one of the simplest musical instruments to play, and the method we are going to show you here will make it one of the easiest musical instruments to make as well. To make a kazoo at home, all you need is a sheet of paper, a piece of wax paper, rubber bands and some adhesive tape. The first step is to make the body of the kazoo, and you can do that by rolling the sheet of regular paper into a cylinder. Then you need to cover one end with the wax paper and wrap the rubber band around so that the wax paper does not lose. Once you’re finished, just hum away through the open end of the cylinder.

3. Homemade French Horn

Items Needed: 4, a coil of garden/perforated pipe, scotch/masking tape, a funnel, scissors/knife

All you need is just a bit of corrugated piping, (like the ones used under the kitchen sink or hose pipe found in the garden will work too) and a simple funnel. You just have to arrange the piping in an overlapping circular shape and tape it all down together. Next, put the funnel on one end, and blow away at the other end with your mouth. If you are teaching your kids the technique to play the horn, this can be a fascinating DIY project to do with them.

2. Water Xylophone

Items Needed: 3, Glasses, water color, spoons

You do not even have to make anything to play a water Xylophone. All you need is a few glasses of similar make and some water. You line the glasses up, fill them with water at varying levels and tune them by adding or subtracting water if needed. Then just tap the glasses with a pair of sticks or wooden/metal spoons to produce beautiful melodies. You can also add water soluble colors to make it look stunning as well.

1. The Wrench Xylophone

Items Needed: 2, Wrench set, screwdrivers or nails 

Making a musical instrument could not be easier than a Wrench Xylophone. However, you will need a wrench configured to make this. Lay the wrenches on a flat surface, or use two or more wooden bridges to suspend them off the ground a little bit, and that’s it. Now all you need is a pair of screwdrivers or something similar to strike the wrenches and enjoy the sweet sounding melody.

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