Freenotes is a great way to introduce families to playing musical instruments

In my day job, I do a lot of work around usability and the user experience of products, content and things. I often wonder about how we can create an inviting, almost fail-safe approach to introduce more people to playing a musical instrument. I recently discovered Freenotes, a company that creates tuned percussion instruments that use pentatonic or diatonic scales. This removes notes that may clash and be out of tune or key. No matter what notes you play, they’ll resonate and sound like they belong together.

Taking that approach, Freenotes design huge playgrounds of instruments to be played outdoors. Their best-known work is in Utah, where the Freenotes Harmony Park is situated. The instruments are built to give a concert-like sound quality, and also survive all the harsh weather that nature throws at them. Desert heat, anyone? Whilst I’ve tried out some of their smaller items for playing at home, I love the idea of musical parks that let children interact with music in a fun, safe, and playful way. By having instruments that never play a “wrong” note, it should lend itself well to improvisation.

This is not a sponsored post (I’ve never had one in over 17 years of running this site). I just think it’s a fantastic idea. With apps like Björk’s ‘Biophilia’ app exploring different ways to explain and play with sound digitally, it is lovely to see that a more tactile approach is still being used. Find out more about Freenotes on the Freenotes Harmony Park website. There’s also plenty of instrument demonstrations on YouTube from parks they’ve created around the world.