School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7This thorough and lively presentation explores the world of sound and provides instructions for making musical instruments. Along the way, readers will learn about famous scientists who had musical inclinations, such as Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, and Galileo. Numerous, clear, pen-and-ink drawings illustrate the construction of instruments from a glass harmonica, to a violin, drums, and a foot-powered organ. Some adult help will be needed for some of the projects; others are so simple that only the materials are necessary. The scientific principles behind the creation of all the wonderful noises are explained, as is basic music notation. Covering much of the same territory as Margaret McLean's Make Your Own Musical Instruments (Lerner, 1988) but including more easy-to-make instruments, this volume is a welcome addition suitable for most collections.Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-7. It's no easy task to create a book that works both as a craft how-to and as an introduction to a subject, but this volume succeeds nicely all around. With clear instructions for making everything from a shoe box guitar to a water-glass chorus, it is a wonderful resource for teachers and students wanting to try their hand at building a homemade band. It is also filled with basic information about sound, rhythm, and reading music, as well as a wide variety of wind, string, and percussion instruments. A scattering of sidebars, which focus on historical figures who loved music (among them, Albert Einstein and Alexander Graham Bell), might better have been devoted to thumbnail profiles of famous composers, but this is still an excellent blending of science, craft, and fun. Glossary. --Stephanie Zvirin
