Grade 5 Creative Arts & Sports Study Notes

Introduction to Creating and Executing

Creating and Executing is the first strand in Grade 5 Creative Arts. You will make, draw, play and perform using the right materials and steps.

What this strand covers

• Wind Musical Instruments (Drawing) — Kenyan wind instruments and how to draw them.
• Football — kicking, stopping, dribbling, and making field equipment.
• Rhythm — note values, French rhythm names, and composing rhythms.
• Painting and Mosaic — mixing colours and making mosaic art.
• Melody — sol-fa syllables, hand signs, and composing short melodies.
• Rounders — batting, bowling, fielding, and playing the full game.

Sub-Strand 1.1 focus

In this sub-strand you will identify Kenyan wind instruments, learn their parts and what each part does, make a simple wind instrument from local materials, care for it properly, and draw two instruments using the crayon etching technique.

What Are Wind Instruments?

A wind instrument is a musical instrument played by blowing. When you blow, air enters a hollow space inside the instrument. The air vibrates (moves back and forth very fast), and that vibration makes sound.

Wind instruments are among the oldest musical instruments in the world. Most Kenyan communities developed their own wind instruments as part of their cultural heritage, passing them down from generation to generation.

How wind instruments are used

• Played alone, without other instruments.
• Played together with other instruments.
• Played to accompany a folk song — the instrument provides the musical backing while people sing.
• Played to accompany a folk dance.

What makes each instrument unique

Each instrument has its own unique sound. The sound depends on two things: the material it is made from and its size. Each instrument also has a local name from the community it belongs to.

Indigenous Kenyan Wind Instruments

Here are five indigenous Kenyan wind instruments, the communities they come from, and what each one looks like.

The Chivoti — Mijikenda community

The Chivoti is a long, thin tube made from bamboo. It is held sideways (horizontally — like a pen lying flat) when played. The player blows across a small hole near one end. It has finger holes along the body for changing notes.

The Adet — Turkana community

The Adet is a horn-shaped instrument. It curves gently from a narrow mouth end to a wider bell end, like an animal horn. The player blows into the narrow end.

The Emouo — Maasai community

The Emouo is also horn-shaped but straight — it does not curve like the Adet. It is narrow at the blowing end and widens steadily to a wide open bell. No finger holes.

The Soo — Kamba community

The Soo is made from a gourd — a dry, hard, hollow fruit shell. The body is large and rounded, like a round bottle. A narrow tube sticks out from the top, and the player blows into this tube.

The Abu — Luo community

The Abu is a short, straight tube, much shorter than the Chivoti. It is held upright (vertically) when played. The player blows into a hole at the top end.

Summary

The variety of shapes, materials and sounds across these five instruments shows the rich and diverse musical heritage of Kenya's communities. Each instrument carries the identity of the community it comes from.

Key Points and Summary

Kenyan wind instruments

• Sound is produced when blown air vibrates inside the hollow body.
• Five instruments: Chivoti (Mijikenda), Adet (Turkana), Emouo (Maasai), Soo (Kamba), Abu (Luo).
• Each has a unique local name and sound depending on material and size.

Parts and roles

Making the Mulele — 6 steps

Tuning — 4 methods

• Correct holding position (horizontal or vertical)
• Lips correctly placed at the mouth hole or V-notch
• Gentle blowing
• Listening and adjusting while playing

Care

• Store dry and clean. Clean hollow with a dry cloth. Handle gently.

Crayon etching — 5 steps

• Texture = surface feel (rough, smooth, soft, coarse).
• Cross-hatching = two sets of lines crossing at an angle.

Parts of a Wind Instrument

A wind instrument has several parts. Some instruments have more parts; others have fewer. Each part has a job in producing sound.

The four main parts — labelled W, X, Y and Z

• W — Blowing hole (mouth hole or mouthpiece): The opening where the player places their lips and blows. Air enters the instrument here. On a flute it is a small oval hole near one end; on a horn it is the narrow end itself.
• X — Hollow body: The long main tube of the instrument, empty inside. Air travels and vibrates here to make sound.
• Y — Finger holes: Small round holes along the body. The player covers and uncovers them to change the note produced.
• Z — Open end (Bell): The opening at the far end where sound comes out. On some instruments it flares into a wide bell shape.

Extra parts found on some instruments

• Closed end: A sealed end on some instruments that directs sound towards the open end.
• Reed: A thin, flat, flexible strip fitted inside the mouthpiece of some instruments. It vibrates when blown to start the sound.

The Nzumari (Mijikenda) and the Abu (Luo) are examples of instruments that differ in how many parts they have.

Role of Each Part in Sound Production

Each part has a specific job. The parts work together from when the player blows to when sound comes out.

What each part does

1. Blowing hole (W): Lets air into the hollow body. This starts sound production.
2. Hollow body (X): Amplifies the sound — makes it louder and fuller. Air vibrates inside here and is shaped into a tone.
3. Finger holes (Y): Opened and closed to produce different pitches. Pitch is how high or low a sound is. Changing which holes are covered changes the pitch.
4. Open end (Z): Lets the sound out. Sound travels through the body and exits here.
5. Closed end (where present): Directs sound towards the open end — acts like a wall that guides the sound forward.
6. Reed (where present): Vibrates when blown. This vibration produces the first sound, before the body shapes it further.

The flow of sound

Air enters at W → vibrates and is amplified in X → pitch is shaped by Y → sound exits at Z.

The skill of designing and crafting an instrument so all these parts work together precisely reflects the craftsmanship of the people who made them.

Materials and Tools for Making a Wind Instrument

Wind instruments can be made from locally available materials. The body must be hollow — empty inside — so air can travel and vibrate to produce sound.

Three suitable materials

• Bamboo stem: A hollow cylindrical plant stem, golden-yellow in colour, with a hard outer wall. It has raised ring-shaped bumps called nodes (joints) at even intervals along its length. The section between two nodes is selected and used. Its hard wall and natural hollow make it well suited for a wind instrument body.
• PVC pipe: A smooth, white or grey hard plastic tube — the type used in water plumbing. It is already hollow and has no nodes. Its uniform hollow bore makes it reliable when bamboo is not available.
• Hollow reed: A thin plant stem found near rivers and wetlands. It is lighter and thinner than bamboo. Its thin walls and light weight make it suitable for smaller instruments.

Four tools needed

• Knife: A short-bladed cutting knife for cutting bamboo to length and carving the V-shaped notch.
• Ruler: A flat measuring strip marked in centimetres and inches, for measuring and marking the correct length.
• Sharpened piece of thick wire: A stiff wire with one end sharpened to a point. It is heated over a flame and pressed into the bamboo to burn small round finger holes.
• Sandpaper or pumice stone: Sandpaper is a stiff sheet coated with fine rough grit. A pumice stone is a rough, porous rock. Both smooth sharp or rough edges on the finished instrument.

When collecting materials, take only what you need. Using resources without waste or damage is an important part of environmental conservation.

Collecting Materials Responsibly

Collect materials from the environment responsibly — take only what you need and leave the place clean.

What to do when collecting

• Take only what you need. Cutting more bamboo or reeds than necessary damages the plant population in that area.
• Check that each piece is straight and undamaged. A cracked or bent piece will not produce good sound.
• Check the hollow opening is wide enough for air to flow freely, and that the walls are not too thin (they will split when holes are bored) or too thick (hard to work with).
• Observe safety when cutting. Handle cutting tools carefully and away from other people.
• Sort your materials. Remove damaged, cracked, or wrong-sized pieces. Only use well-selected pieces.
• Clean and dry materials before starting to make the instrument.
• Leave the collection area clean. Pick up cut pieces and plant debris. Leave the place as you found it.

Why this matters

Taking only what you need protects the plant population so it is still available in future. This is environmental conservation.