CajonQuick favorite for today – the Cajon in my studio has been getting a lot of use lately and I wondered how many other teachers knew about this amazing instrument! It is a rectangular wooden box with a hole on the back side that you drum on. Originally from Peru, there are tons of ways to play this simple instrument.  I love to use the front panel while I sit on it so I just lean down to put one hand on an upper corner and the other in the center. The corners have more of “tin” sound and the middle is a deeper tone.

You’re probably wondering how I use it but with our summer of pop music and the annual pop jam coming up on Saturday, I’ve been accompanying my students so they can hear some drumming even when the drummer isn’t in the studio with us. Now my beats aren’t nearly as good as our professional drummer but it still helps them learn to really listen to their part while staying together in an ensemble.

If you want to hear some great Cajon playing, just Google it or type it in on YouTube. I found tons of videos to demonstrate the sound, including these that I just had to show you here!

Author: Whitney

Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com