Making It: Programmes 16–26
Programme 20: Chorinho Lives to Play Cavaquinho

Aims

After watching the programme and participating in the activities, pupils should be able to:

measure, mark out, cut and shape materials
communicate design ideas in different ways, bearing in mind the use and purpose for which the product is intended
use information from a number of sources, including ICT
assemble, join and combine components and materials accurately
design and make assignments using stiff and flexible sheet materials
carry out tests to improve a product
know how the characteristics of materials affect the ways they are used
investigate and evaluate a product to appreciate how it works and how it is used

Chorinho lives in a tower block in a big Brazilian city. His whole life is filled with music. He loves playing the cavaquinho, a kind of small guitar. He downloads musical scores from the internet and sits practising night after night. The highlight of Chorinho's week comes when he plays in a four-piece band at a local café.

He likes the same things most kids do – cycling, skateboarding, hanging out – but whatever he does, he always takes his music with him. Even if he's just coming down steps, running his fingers along a fence or tapping a friend on the shoulder, the rhythm of the music keeps running in his head. It's as if the whole city around him is moving to the same joyful beat.

Curriculum Relevance

Music – play tuned and untuned instruments; improvise, developing rhythmic and melodic material; analyse and compare sounds
Science – properties of materials; sound
ICT – gather information from a variety of sources

Background

The cavaquinho is a small instrument, a kind of cross between a guitar and a mandolin. It is very popular in Brazil, where it is used to play samba tunes. The first cavaquinhos were made in Portugal over 600 years ago. The small size of the instrument (it's about 52cm long) makes it easy for travellers to carry. Back in the 1400s, Portuguese sailors took cavaquinhos with them on their voyages of discovery to Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean. In Hawaii, the cavaquinho is known as the 'ukulele. This word means 'dancing flea', neatly describing the instrument's high-pitched, jagged and jumpy sound.

The Brazilian cavaquinho has four metal strings, stretched over a hollow wooden 'sound box'. This box has a hole in it for the sound to come out. At the end of a long wooden arm, are four little pegs for tightening the strings to get higher pitched notes. The player can also change the pitch of a string by holding it against the arm (or 'fretboard') of the instrument. The cavaquinho has 17 wires (called 'frets') across this board, to mark the positions of different notes. A small piece of wood called a 'bridge' holds the strings away from the instrument. This lets the strings vibrate freely when they are strummed or plucked. The vibrations echo inside the sound box, making them easier to hear.

Follow the links from this site to see and hear the cavaquinho and other stringed instruments.

Activities

Make A 'Strings' Poster

This is a great way of understanding the design of stringed instruments like the cavaquinho.

You will need: pictures and photos of different stringed instruments; large sheet of cartridge paper; reel of brightly coloured thread; tracing paper; scissors; glue; pencil; crayons; marker pens.

Collect as many pictures of different stringed instruments as you can. You could cut out pictures from magazines, or trace them from books. Or you could follow the links from this site and print out some of the images you find.
In the centre of the sheet of cartridge paper write a list of key words:
- sound box
- bridge
- fretboard
- frets
- strings
- sound hole
- pegs
Glue your pictures around the edge of the sheet. Label each instrument.
Can you spot each different element that goes to make up an instrument? Read the Background Information on the cavaquinho for some clues.
When you have spotted something, such as the bridge of a guitar, glue a piece of thread between the key word 'bridge' and the correct place in the picture.
In the end, threads should point to the main parts of all the instruments.
Does every instrument have a hole for the sound to escape? Do all the instruments have frets, pegs or bridges? Can you find a stringed instrument that doesn't have a sound box?

Make an Instrument Prototype

A prototype is a model that gives you the chance to experiment with different design ideas. Before you start, think about how to use the scissors and craft knife safely. Check with your teacher if you are not sure.

You will need: strong plastic box with a lid (an empty ice-cream container is great for this); 8 brass split pins; reel of strong thread; reel of sticky tape; 6 plastic drinking straws; 4 elastic bands; jug of sand; pencil; ruler; craft knife and cutting mat; scissors.

On the lid of the box, mark out a square about 2cm by 2cm. This square should be positioned towards one end of the lid, about 2cm from the edge.
Carefully cut out the square you have marked.
Push four split pins into the lid of the box at one end and four pins at the opposite end.
Tape the split pins firmly to the underside of the lid.
Stretch and tie threads between the two sets of pins, so that you have made four strings across the square hole you have cut.
Put a piece of tape over the heads of the split pins to keep the threads securely in place.
Try twanging the threads. What do you hear?
Put the lid back on the box. Twang again. How is the sound different?
Make a bridge by sliding a pencil under the strings. Twang again. Move the bridge to different positions and experiment with the sounds you get.
Tape drinking straws to the box lid to make frets. Try holding down the strings on the different frets. Listen again to the difference in the sound.
Gradually fill the sound box with sand. How does the sound alter when the box is a quarter, half or three-quarters full?
Replace the strings with elastic bands. Again, how does the sound change?
Try using different materials (cardboard, plastic, wood, metal) to make the bridge. Does a thinner or thicker bridge make a difference? Does a taller bridge produce a different sound from a shorter one?
Alter the size or shape of the sound hole. Does this make a difference?
You could make a whole set of different prototypes, each one with its own particular sound. You and your mates could form a band and play them all together.

Links

This web page contains links to other websites that are neither controlled nor maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Photo of a cavaquinho:
www.piguetguitars.com/englisch/cavaquinhosE.html

Listen to some cavaquinho playing:
www.jonathanpreiss.freeserve.co.uk/caratinga.htm#listen

Find out more about the Portuguese cavaquinho:
www.juliopereira.pt/instruments/ukulele.html

A list of different stringed instruments, with plenty of photos:
www.gryphonstrings.com/indexinv.html

Virtual museum of historical stringed instruments:
www.mdw.ac.at/I105/orpheon/Seiten/Abra/vazquezcoll.htm

Find out more about the ukulele, including how to play it:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111042/frame2page.html

Making It: Programmes 16–26 Programme 20: Chorinho Lives to Play Cavaquinho