World Thereminization Made Easy

Here is my plan for World Thereminization...

A child's toy theremin...not too loud, not too irritating of a tone, batteries that last a long time, or are rechargeable.

Perhaps a deluxe version could play a series of two or three notes, and the tyke could try to match the pitch. Or it could have a button on the top. The child could hit the button, the toy would emit a tone, and the student could try to match the tone by moving his hands around the theremin. Or the unit could slowly play a song, and the child could try to follow it.

Little children (I do mean little), just love it when things respond to them.

I think a 3 year-old could be captivated by something like this.


Thereminless

My six-year-old loves my theremin. He says he is going to play a theremin in a band when he is older.

He even jammed with us at a recent gig and te crowd loved it, even though he doesn't know how to play yet. (Unlike me, he can get by on cuteness!)

i notice whenever i bring my little brother to my bands shows he gets much more attention from the ladies than i do...what happened to rock stars getting girls?

I mean, how cool would it be, if the theremin was as much a part of our culture as Play Doh, or a Frisbee? I know the classical-music-purists might be horrified by my suggestion, but little children are full of free expression, and there is no better instrument designed for such free expression than a theremin.

I just remember a toy my dad gave my kids. The kids would say something into it, and the box would say it back, only backwards. They could play and giggle with that for hours. Little kids love things that respond to them.


Thereminless

I showed my six-year-old nephew how to play my Theremax and he showed remarkable intuition in grasping the basic control concepts. In a very short time he was creating discrete tones, using simple arm movements to maintain their pitch.