Utilizing the MaKey MaKey and Scratch Online technology, we have created a construction kit that can build multipurpose tools to be used by students and teachers specifically for music. The ultimate set of musical building blocks, the Makey MaKey Musical Construction Kit is a concept that incorporates many gathered materials, resources, and instructables that can be combined, remixed, and redefined to create a nearly endless supply of musical tools to teach students a broad number of musical concepts. The kit has everything you need to create tools like these:
The MaKey MaKey Chord Board: This tool can be used by teachers in the classroom and by students in the classroom or at home to teach and reinforce chord theory concepts and practical applications. Students can use the MMCB to explore chordal music on their own or use it to complete activities assigned by a classroom teacher. Using the onboard sound recording functions of Scratch, students can record their own explorations and reflect on their experience. Teachers can access these recordings to evaluate student progress and understanding.
The MaKey MaKey Portable Chorus: The Portable Chorus is another set that completely redefines the idea of practicing for ensembles. Using this tool, teachers can record multitrack versions of repertoire in programs like GarageBand or Logic, cut up the recordings according to the song's form, and input them into the programming to create a live demo and practice mechanism for students. Students can mute parts, sing along with any combination of parts, and listen to the song in sections by form to increase their understanding of their part and the piece as a whole.
The MaKey MaKey Multipurpose Kalimba: This last tool is the solution for students looking to play melodies in different keys. The Multipurpose Kalimba is a melodic tool that can be transposed to any key in the same way that the Chord Board can. With five instruments that all follow one scale and an additional pentatonic mode, this tool can become a catalyst for scalar and melodic theory. This tool can be used in transposition, composition, and improvisation.
But these are only three projects that you can make with the MaKey MaKey Construction Kit. What will you create?
