This article was posted in our local newspaper, The Times News, about a week ago.
DECLO • When musical instruments are named Zimba, Zambo, Zootie and Zoomba it’s an indicator that the music is going to be lively.
Teacher Roger Turner, who makes marimbas to sell, also takes them into his Declo Elementary School classroom to the delight of his students.
A marimba is a percussion instrument similar to the xylophone.
Turner has been teaching music with the Cassia County School District for 25 years. He also teaches junior high and high school band in Declo.
“I get really tired of people asking what music’s worth is,” Turner said.
Many people find a need to justify music in schools by citing non-musical reasons to include it, he said.
“That’s not why I play music. I do it because it is fun and inspiring. It uplifts. It lifts me up,” he said.
The students love the sounds of the marimba and enjoy playing music, he said.
“If there are other benefits, so be it,” Turner said.
Fifth-grader Jack Taylor, who also plays the piano, said he enjoys the marimbas because “when you are playing the piano, you just push on the keys and with the marimba, you get to pound on it.”
Paisley Schroeder, also in fifth grade, plays the piano, said she enjoys staying in at recess to play the marimba.
Schroeder, who also enjoys the physical aspect of it said “it’s just fun.”
Turner’s interest in marimba was spurred while he took band students to a conference and he went to look at some music vendors, one who was building marimbas.
“He told me the world needs more marimba makers,” said Turner, who took the advice to heart.
He has made 20 in the last two years. Orders have been filled across the U.S. and he is working to complete some that will be shipped to Korea and Canada.
Turner crafts the wood bars from hardwood like black walnut or ash and there are tube resonators underneath to amplify the sound. He hollows out the underside of each bar to the desired pitch.
Turner has not yet started making the mallets used to strike the bars, which can either be hard or soft, depending on the desired sound.
The marimba’s roots lie in South Africa and Central America and much of the music written for the instrument is Zimbabwean.
Turner said he likes to teach the students to play using sheet music and notes, but much Zimbabwe music is played – improvisational style.
“I’m learning how to do this,” he said.
Last year a group of about 15 students formed a marimba group at the school, which Turner hopes to implement again.
Turner’s students are working on a Veterans Day program and four of the numbers use the marimba.
“It’s really been a challenge for me,” Turner said.
He’s crafted bass, baritone and soprano marimbas and he has made a “grand marimba” that spans three and a half octaves that three students play at a time.
Students in all five grades at the school attend music class.
“I’ve never seen this before in an elementary school,” said principal Kevin Lloyd. “It’s a cool program.”
Most of the students’ parents are unaware of what Turner is offering students at the school, he said.
Lloyd said he would like to see the student marimba group perform so it can be broadcast on a YouTube channel or shared with other schools.
“This is a great way to expose children to other styles of music,” Lloyd said.
The school is in the process of purchasing five of Turner’s marimbas that will stay in the classroom, he said.
“Cross-curricular education is important here.”