How to play the kazoo (Tutorial)

Kazoos are an amusing, yet underrated, musical instrument. With the help of a kazoo, you can easily produce a buzzing or humming sound. The kazoo is a unique musical instrument and although it’s a relatively simple instrument, with a few basic tips, anyone can learn to play it. 

Gather Your Supplies

To get started, you’ll need a kazoo, if you already have one then that's great but if not you can buy a solid brass kazoo here. Ours already have a kazoo reed inside which is used to produce the buzzing sound but if you got your kazoo from somewhere else, you may need to buy one of these separately if your instrument is not producing a noise. 

How to Hum

Humming into the kazoo is the key to creating a buzzing sound. To do this, you’ll need to take a deep breath, then hum into the kazoo while you’re exhaling. The sound should come out as a buzz. If you want to take your kazoo-humming skills to the next level, try out different pitches to create a scale of notes. To do this, you’ll need to hum at different pitches or tones. The easiest way to try this is to start with the lowest pitch you can produce, and then increase the pitch until you reach the highest pitch.

You can also experiment with sounds other than humming. For example, you can hum into the kazoo while singing a song to create a more complex sound. Try to hum different syllables or words as you sing along. You can use your kazoo to create a rhythmic beat. To do this, hum into the kazoo while tapping your foot and changing the pitch with each tap or you can hum into your kazoo with a steady rhythm while clapping your hands.

Playing Techniques

Once you’ve got the basics of humming down, you can experiment with different playing techniques. For example, you can try playing a simple melody by humming different notes in order. You can also try vibrato – alternating the pitch of your hum to create a vibrating effect. Finally, you can try humming and singing at the same time – it takes some practice, but it’s possible to do! The key to playing the kazoo is to relax and have fun. Don’t be worried if it takes some time to get the hang of it. With a bit of practice, you’ll soon be playing and humming away. You can even join a kazoo band or try out some kazoo covers of your favourite songs.

How to play the kazoo (Video)

Music

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