Ocarina

Have you ever seen one of these things?!? They are pretty cool. They range from small pendant sized objects to huge two-hands-full boulders! And the sound is so beautiful.
I’ve known about them for a little while because one of my friends from the Shire of Darach played one at events as he wandered about. I thought it was neat but never considered getting one. Then I met a nice man from the Shire of Standing Stones who has quite a collection of them. He let the kids play with them and I realized that some were small enough for Jessie to play. Ah-hah! And the ocarina bug bit. *ouch!*

So we are now the proud owners of 3 ocarinas from a great place online that just happens to be in St Louis. The ones I bought for the kids are made of plastic. Unfortunately the holes are too big for Jessie’s fingers. Oh well. She’s not that interested as it is.

I googled up a mess of related links and started storing the ones I like on a page under “Studies” linked at your left. I’ve even found a place where a guy has a workshop where kids make their own ocarina! Unfortunately they are in PA. Hmmm… wonder if I could create something similar for our homeschooling group….? I’ve emailed him about his curriculum guide. We’ll see.

Anyway. Most ocarina music I’ve found uses notation that mimics the holes on the top of the instrument making it very easy to play even if you can’t read music. How cool is that?!? There is even a font for a 4-hole ocarina!

Sam is eagerly playing what music I’ve printed out AND figuring out by ear how to play some of our tinwhistle songs on his ocarina. Thought that last bit was especially cool.

So here is something else to possibly add to that list of things I never thought I’d do: “make a musical instrument.”