A Cajón from Donations
Schillers play the cajón
A donation to the promotion association made it possible for the school to buy a new instrument
When Africans were shipped to America as slaves, all their belongings were taken away from them including their musical instruments. But they wanted to preserve their traditional music. They were very creative and used a lot of different things to make music such as simple boxes for example. The cajóns were developed from such boxes. Strings and bells were attached inside them and a hole was cut into the back side. So it was even possible for the boxes to be used as percussion instruments: hitting the center at the bottom with the ball of the thumb produces the sound of a bass drum and tapping the edges with the fingers make them sound like snare drums. Because of this versatility these ‘miracle boxes’ are so popular and are often used for the accompaniment of rock- and pop music. In our school they are used in the lessons but also by ensembles taking part in the Christmas and charity concerts. This is what the new cajón has been purchased for. It was possible thanks to the donation of family Eisold to our promotion association. Thank you once again!
Lea Jersch, grade 8/2