The term ‘maraca’ likely has origins in the pre-Columbian Araucanian language, and its heritage as a rattle is ancient. Maracas are usually played in pairs, with either one in each hand or two held together in one hand. Although maracas are traditionally made from hollowed and dried gourds, today they are more commonly found in plastic, metal, and wooden forms. But over many years of teaching music to small children , there have been quite a few times when the contents of the shakers have exploded across the floor and we’ve been left finding those little grains of rice and lentils for months afterwards!

A maraca ( pronunciation ⓘ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, [1] is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas are a common feature of Caribbean and Latin music, and can be constructed from a variety of materials to create different sounds and responses. Whilst they were traditionally made from gourd shells and filled with seeds, most modern day maracas are made of either fibre, wood, or plastic. Maracas are integral to Latin American dance bands, and have become increasingly popular in pop groups, percussion ensembles, as well as primary school music education. Making your own maracas or shakers would seem to be a pretty obvious task. But I wanted to share some practical advice when it comes to choosing the right materials. Putting them together so that you can make instruments that make a good sound and ones that can take a bit of a bashing too! So I’ve made sure these DIY shakers won’t split! Making homemade musical instruments together is such a fun activity! Kids love getting involved with decorating them and then are so delighted to use them afterwards to make some music.Different maracas can produce sounds that are recognizably higher or lower than one another, and composers will sometimes specify depending upon the desired sound. Many 20 th century composers including Edgard Varèse, Sergey Prokofiev, and Malcolm Arnold included the maracas in their pieces. It’s such a good idea to make instruments from recycled materials, why throw things away when you can re-invent them, and give them a new life? In Colombia, the maracas are an integral part of the conjunto de cumbria and conjunto de gaitas ensembles. Smaller types of rattles, like the gapachos and clavellinas, appear in the Andean and Llanos regions, respectively.