Lower School Creates Covering for Wind Instrument
Every year in the lower school, third graders have the opportunity to learn how to play the recorder. This year, that looked a little bit different due to COVID-19. Most wind instruments have covers that can be put over the bell of the instrument to help prevent the spread of germs, but unfortunately, those do not exist for the recorder. To solve this problem, the third grade class experimented with making their own covers.
The students placed sock coverings over various pieces of the recorder to see how the sound of the instrument was affected. The students also experimented with different ways to hold the covering on the recorder to see what was most effective between zip ties, rubber bands, and tape. The results were recorded by lower school music teacher Lisa McNearney and showed that rubber bands were the best way to attach the sock coverings to the recorders. Zip ties worked well but were too hard to get off, and tape was a mess and not as effective.
“The 3rd grade students were so excited to learn the recorder this year and were very disappointed at the prospects of having to learn via video due to COVID-19,” said McNearney. “Now that we have the covers, we can learn all together at school. I’m thrilled with their enthusiasm and perseverance to find a way to make it work!”
