With origins in the 1920s, skiffle is fast-paced, fun-time American music made on improvised instruments, often played by “juke” or “spasm” bands at rent parties (which were called skiffles in New Orleans). In the age-old artistic battle between musical virtuosity (epitomized by chamber music) and well-meaning energy (epitomized by punk), skiffle music errs on the side of the latter. While only some of these instruments, like the $10 Electric Guitar and X-Ray Drums, have legitimate skiffle roots, all of them rely on repurposing cheap and common parts in the service of rocking the house.

One invaluable tool for the neophyte instrument builder is a chromatic tuner. A tuner reports back what pitch it’s hearing and is conventionally used to tune string instruments. (Beware of guitar tuners that only recognize the pitches commonly played on guitar; these are much less useful.) Having a chromatic tuner will greatly expand your ability to tune and play the $10 Electric Guitar (Chapter 13) and Cigar-Box Synthesizer (Chapter 17). Several software packages (like Apple’s Garageband or the free Gibson Learn & Master Guitar Application for the iPhone and iPod Touch) include tuners, and there are many stand-alone software tuners available for free online (like the Seven String Tuner: http://www.seventhstring.com/tuner/tuner.html).