The Gurp

By Greg, 5th Grade

The Gurp is a string instrument. It's a cross between a guitar and a harp.

1. To build this instrument I first got a 2x4 and cut it with a hand saw into four pieces; one piece of 1 foot, one of 2 feet, and two pieces of 2 and a half feet with the help of my sister. Then I nailed the pieces together in a triangular shape.

2. Next I got a quarter inch thick piece of plywood and traced two outlines of my instrument with a pencil. Then with the help of my mom and dad, I cut the two shapes out with a jigsaw. Next I hand-sanded it with a piece of sandpaper. Then my dad helped me nail the bottom half of my instrument to the perimeter of my instrument with a hammer and nails.

3. Next with a drill, my mom, my dad, and I drilled the holes for the screws, then with the jigsaw, we cut a hole in the middle of the wood that had not been put on yet, that looks like the instrument. Then I spray painted both parts with hunter green colored spray paint.

4. Next with the help of my dad I screwed the screws in their places, these screws have holes in the middle of them so the 28 gauge wire can go through them and be tightened or untightened by using a wrench or pliers to move the screws. We used wire cutters to cut the wire and put nuts and washers under the screws to keep them in place, then we nailed the top on and my sister tuned it.

You use a washer as a pick to play it and I got all the wood from my barn.