Description of technique:
To make your Drinking Straw Oboe:

1) Take an ordinary drinking straw and flatten about 1/2? of one end of the straw so that it is closed and lies flat. This could take a few minutes.

2) Cut the flattened end of the straw so that it looks like a sharpened pencil. This forms the ?reed? of the oboe.

3) Place your lips just past the slits that form the reed and blow into it to play your oboe. Move the straw until you get a sound. Cutting the end opposite the reed will change the pitch of your oboe.

Appropriate age group(s):
Preschoolers on up.

Other suggestions or comments:
If you are really ambitious, you can put a series of holes into the straw with a pin, just like a recorder. You can change the pitch by covering some or all of the holes with your finger tips.