The Kazoo. Why? It is an equal opportunity instrument. Anyone can hum and play one. It is eminently portable. It is affordable. Group concerts are easily arranged.

To get the best tone from your kazoo, it is important to put your lips to the large hole at the one end of your instrument. Then hum, loudly and dramatically, into this hole. Once you have at least squawked a bit, begin humming all your favorite tunes: Happy Birthday, Beethoven's Fifth, Putting on the Ritz, Stairway to Heaven, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, "Feel Like A Woman", whatever. Then, if you've really got the hang of it, try varying the sound by humming in a falsetto. Now, go out there and amaze your friends!

Rumors place the origins of this instrument with the Roman military Kazoo bands that led Caesar's legions against the hordes of Vercingetorix in 52 BC. True or not, blowing on a Kazoo was the way a nobelman serenaded his lady during the Middle Ages.