Boomwhackers® are hollow, plastic tubes of different lengths and colours. The length of each tube determines the pitch: the longer the tube, the lower the note, the shorter the tube, the higher the note.

Each tube plays a different note and is marked with the corresponding letter name (e.g. C, C#, D, E, F, G, A, B). Each tube is also marked with tonic solfa (doh, re, mi, fah, sol, lah, ti).

Each colour represents a different note and the same sequence of colours/notes repeats over different octaves. The colour of the tube remains the same whichever octave the notes are in, e.g. all Es are yellow. The chromatic notes (C#, D#, etc) are intermediate colours between the main (diatonic) scale.

When a tube is struck, sound is generated through a process called vibration. The impact of the strike causes the molecules in both the plastic itself and the column of air inside it to vibrate and this creates sound waves that travel through the air to our ears. The frequency and the wavelength of these vibrations determine the pitch of the sound produced.

Longer tubes vibrate with a longer wavelength (so at a lower frequency) and produce lower notes. Shorter tubes vibrate with a shorter wavelength (so at a higher frequency) and produce higher notes.

They are played by being struck – against another Boomwhacker® or another surface.

Here’s just a few ideas…..

- Tap a hard object such as a chair or table

- Tap into a cupped hand or on the leg, knee, shoulder, etc

- Tap the top of the tube with your hand

- Tap the tube with a beater or stick