Building BlockBlockssss Exercise

The Pitched HHumanuman DDrumrumrumrum KKKitKititit

Building Pulse, Rhythm, tempo, blocks

Pitch is applicable to percussive as well as melodic instruments.

The percussion family can be divided into tuned and un-tuned instruments. Key subject knowledge Many percussion instruments produce an indefinite sound. This means that they produce uneven, irregular vibrations when they are played, unlike tuned instruments whose vibrations when played are regular, resulting in a determinable sound

• To work collectively as a unit • To focus on creating a solid pulse Aims • To understand that everyone is responsible for keeping time • To use the body to create different pitched sounds • To learn some featured drum patterns

Pupils in a circle

Set up If you have any percussion instruments to hand for the drum patterns this would also be fun eg cow bells, African drums etc.

Description Exercise 1 How can we create different pitched sounds using our bodies? High (whistles, clicks), Middle (claps, taps), Low (chest area).

Exercise 2 Human drum kit – create a drum kit using different body parts for each part of the kit.

STEP 1 Introduce the different parts of a drum kit using pictures (Instrument Families resource), video, or (ideally) an actual kit. Make sure pupils are familiar with the names of the bass drum, snare, high hat and cymbal.

STEP 2 Pupils stand in a circle; teacher/Musicat to establish a steady pulse. Use a metronome if necessary (good idea). Don’t let it speed up!

STEP 3 Create a bass drum sound by gently hitting chest area to produce a low-pitched sound. Follow this with a clap to produce a snare drum sound. Then introduce click to imitate the sound of the high hat. Finally introduce a vocal sound ‘tsst’ for the cymbals.

Differentiation For Older Pupils you may like to try actual drum patterns that you might find in music which could include:

1. Cuban bell Pattern – Divide the pupils in two groups. STEP 1 – set up a bass drum pulse (group 1).

STEP 2 – add the bell pattern on top (group 2).

‘I don’t like apples I like bananas’

2. Swing Pattern – Divide the pupils into three groups Group 1 - Bass drum on 1+3, Group 2 High Hat clicks on 2+4 Group 3 Cymbal swing pattern on top - They “Bake-a-cake”- (the trick with this one is to do a count-in as Bake falls on beat 2 – so you would say… 12341 Bake-A-Cake)

Other info The playlist pieces which include great drum/percussion features are:

America (West side Story); Star Wars Theme; Mars; Clapping Music; Take Five; Chameleon; C Jam Blues; The Nutcracker Suite.

Lots of examples of fun beat boxing exercises for you to adapt as you please.