Since today is National Kazoo Day it seemed appropriate to include a Kazoo-centric post to honor the little hummer. The kazoo's earliest history places it in African rituals where it was made with an animal horn and the membrane from spider eggs and then used to disguise the voice. According to legend the modern kazoo was invented by a former slave who gave the plans to a German clock maker to produce the instrument. Two years later it made its first public appearance at the 1852 Georgia State Fair,but the sub like shape we know today wasn't introduced until 1902. The kazoo can be as versatile as the person playing it and has went from its humble beginnings in jug bands to classical works by Richard Wagner and Leonard Bernstein. You may also be able to hear it in pieces by Frank Zappa,The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. It is an instrument that is easy to learn and the only part that wears out is the resonator which is easily replaced,so go out and kazoo!
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