The Amazing Body Percussion List

The Body Percussion List

What to do with this list?  
I'd play an echo game

• you clap, they echo your clap
• you snap, they echo your snap
• it's an ear/eye training but it's playful...have fun!
• one day, I'll make a video...and post it in our Growing Grounded Kids Community!  (join us!)

listed in general from high pitches to low pitches

snap

tongue clicks

tongue clacks

full hand clap

2-finger clap

4-finger clap 
hand slide (clap with a slide) 

patschen (tap thighs)

alternate patschen (right leg, left leg)

tap top of hand

tap tummy

tap taut hollow cheeks

rub hands

rub thighs

rub face

rub arms

tickle
scratch
drag fingers - also try dragging hand upside down

drum fingers on a body part

stomp

drag feet

slide feet

hand to foot clap
slap foot

2-foot clap

B/P with a partner

partner clap (clap your partner's hands)
hip bump with a partner

Body Percussion Patterns
in 3 time, 5 time, 7 and 9 time. (a la Keith Terry)

1 = Clap

3 = Clap Chest Chest  (ladies may rather hit their stomach)

5 = Clap Chest Chest Leg Leg

7 = Clap Chest Chest Leg Leg Back of leg Back of leg

9 = Clap Chest Chest Leg Leg Back of leg Back of leg Stamp Stamp 




B/P patterns in 2 time 
(combine for 3, 4, 5, 6 time)


Z = rest

2 time 
clap  clap
snap snap
pat pat
stomp stomp
clap Z
snap Z
pat Z
stomp Z


clap snap
clap stomp
clap pat
Z clap

 

Playing handdrums

You need :)  a class set of hand drums.  


I invested in a large bin of small hand drums (20 drums each about 8 inches across) from Empire Music many years ago.  Now I have a hand drum for each child and each parent in my under 3's program.  And it's soooo much fun!

We play drums to:

1.  explore using our hands in a variety of ways to create a sound on the drum (tickly, rub, scratch)



2.  explore using various words to describe what our hands are doing (scrape, rub, knock, tickle, circle, tiptoe)



3.  explore using the drum in unconventional ways using our imagination (drag, roll, skate, fly, blow, wear it like a hat, eat from your drum, eat your soup, eat your cereal)

Tap, tap, tap your drum

Tap, tap, tap your drum

Tap, tap, tap your drum

and now let's stop!

Have You Ever Found Yourself in Snowy Land?

Our new greatest hit!  This song helps us:

• use our bodies creatively
• use percussion...any ones we want
• play a 8-beat phrase and stop together
• play in ensemble and have fun
• make choices about what and where we play and have it all be okay
• feel good and smile

Have you ever found yourself in a snowy land?

(guitar chords G and D7)

Have you ever found yourself in a snowy land?

An icy town with snowflakes grand?

If  you ever find yourself in a snowy land

just pick up an instrument and join the band!

Now converse with the kids

(what will we play?  body percussion?  shakers?  trumpets?)

Using non-pitched percussion (shakers, scrapers, skins, woods, metals)

Have you ever found a shaker in a snowy land,

an icy town, with snowflakes grand?

If you ever find a shaker in a snowy land,

just pick up a shaker and join the band!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (everybody plays...especially the shakers)

Using other instruments

Have you ever found a trumpet in a snowy land

an icy town, with snowflakes grand?

If you ever find a trumpet in a snowy land,

just pick up your trumpet and join the band.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (everybody plays...especially the trumpet)

(just a note...yesterday the sweetest 6 year old boy brought a trumpet to class and we sang this song and he tooted along with the band...oh my goodness...too sweet...and he really sounded fabulous with the drums!)

Using body percussion (snap, clap, pat, stomp, rub, clack)

Have you ever found yourself in a stomping land,

an icy town, with snowflakes grand?

If you ever find yourself in a stomping land,

just start stomping and join the band!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (everybody plays...especially the body percussion people)

enjoy!

let me know what happens!

I Love Halloween! (ages 2-5)

Love Halloween!  
(sung to the tune:  Love Somebody)

ages 18 months to 5 years

I love Halloween, yes I do!

I love Halloween, yes I do!

I love Halloween, yes I do!

I love Halloween with you, you, you!

continue singing the song with variations (see below)

*movement variation

*puppet variation

Process

1.  Circle dance.  Gather everyone into a circle and sing the song.

The first round of substitutions are movement words.  

I love to roll, yes I do!, etc...  (we all roll)

Click to check out my list of movement words here.

2.  After several movement word verses, sing "I love puppets, yes I do!, etc..."

Find your puppets!  I have a big bag full of finger puppets that are perfect for this tune.

We sing the song together as the children are gathering around.  I hoard the puppet bag and take each puppet out one at a time...the children love the suspense.

Each child will come forward for the puppet that most attracts them.  If there is an issue with more than one child wanting a puppet, we have the expectation of sharing...also I have another puppet that is sure to distract when necessary.

puppet verses:

(bat puppet)  I love bats, yes I do!  I love bats, yes I do!  I love bats, yes I do!  I love bats with you, you, you!

(skunk puppet)  I love skunks, yes I do! ....you get the idea:)

3.  We talk about the sounds each puppets makes as they are handed out.

The children seem to naturally take one and then put it down or give it to someone else as the song is sung through many verses. 

4.  We sing a clean-up song as we put the puppets back into the bag.

Rockin' Scarecrow Party! (download recording for singin' dancin' boomwhackin' percussin')

The Scarecrow Family (ages 2-8)

The Scarecrow family likes to sway

On a windy autumn day.

When the stars come out at night

We dance with our friends in the pale moonlight!

Bow to your friend!

Call "Hello!"

Wiggle and shake and away we go!

(percussion orchestra)1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Scarecrow Party is our newest favorite tune at Musicalia.  Kids and parents can sing, dance and play in the Halloween Band.

Free Download

Recording of Scarecrow Party (listen for the donkey jaw and the owl whistle)

Owl Whistle - so much fun:)

See the whistle hole on the back!

Teaching Process

1.  Scarecrows

Ages 2-3 with parents

Ages 3-4 without parents

We pretend to be scarecrows swaying in the fields while I sing the song.  No dancing, just swaying...stuck in one place like scarecrows on a stick.

When we get to the bowing and calling, we bow to our parents and call "hello!" with our parents.

During the counting to 8 we dance together as scarecrows in the field.

Ages 5-7 without parents

Need:  

• scarecrow stick puppets
• puppets to be dancing friends with the scarecrows (we use crows, raccoons, bat, ghost, cat, hawk, spider...you get the idea) 

1. Each child has 2 puppets.  One hand holds the stick puppet and the other hand has a hand puppet to be the scarecrow's friend (bat, cat, ghost, raccoon...).
2. Practise swaying, bowing, calling.  Bow with your puppets friends.  Call hello in the puppet friend's voice.   All of this can be rehearsed while sitting in a circle on the floor.
3. The children sway with their stick puppet during the verse.  At the bowing and calling, they show bowing and calling with their puppets.
4. During the counting (1-8) the puppets dance together.  At this point, the children will probably want to get up and go dancing around the room.  
5. When the verse comes around again, ask the children to sway in one spot like a scarecrow stuck on a stick.  They come off the stick during the bowing and calling and then dance again during the counting bits.

2. Percussion Orchestra

Ages 2-3 with parents

Ages 3-4 without parents
Ages 5-7 without parents
The percussion orchestra gets to play the dance music during the counting (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)

Donkey Jaw  - perfect for our Halloween Band!

Non-pitched percussion
Any non-pitched percussion will work for this band.  For the Halloween Band I gather the oddest looking ones first...

• scrapers (frog callers, donkey jaw)
• woods (any will do but we try to use strange looking ones)
• shakers (jingle loop, and anything rattley)

Pitched percussion

Orff instruments set up with only D and A are fun to add to the mix.  I use them with all ages.

Boomwhackers (D and A)  the purple and orange ones.  I mostly use these with ages 5 and older.

3.  Scarecrow Party Performance

Let everyone choose their favorite part...

• puppets(for older children), 
• dancing (all ages) 
• percussion orchestra (all ages) and can include Boomwhackers, Orff orchestra and non-pitched percussion.  

I usually play guitar (mostly D chord with a couple of A7 and G chords) and sing to keep the song moving along.  

Do you hide your creative ideas?

Kandinsky - try interpreting this as a music score!

I've been using modern works of art as stimulus for music-making for over 15 years. 

In fact, didn't know anyone else who did this...until a couple of weeks ago!  I didn't share much of what I did with art...I think because I was a bit afraid of criticism from other teachers.

While studying at the Orff Institute I re-discovered my "tribe"!

First, at the Orff Symposium (held at the Mozarteum) then at the Orff Institute, I met two people who do the EXACT same things with the art that I do! (and I thought I'd made all this weird respond-to-art-stuff up!)

1. One professor uses the art as a score for beginning violin players...so cool...and I do this too!
2. The other (Monika Unterholzner, a dance teacher) uses the art to stimulate creative movement ideas for child-created choreography.
3. I also use it with my baby programs and preschool programs.  We "read" the lines and dots with our fingers tracking along and vocalize. The children LOVE it and the parents think it's so creative.

Read more about creativity at my favorite blog Colour Me Happy.  Maria has some great posts on creativity here and my favorite one ever...here.

 

Love the bugs! (part 2)

So we've been Lovin' the Bugs for a few days.  It's a new chant/tune for me this year so I'm trying different things with different ages.

So far...

The 3 and 4 year olds were happy to chat about the Earth and things they could do to celebrate the Earth.   The 2 top ideas seemed to be (1) raise money for the Earth at a sale at preschool (2) play superheroes to save the Earth.  It was not easy to squeeze in the lyrics for either of those and shortened versions just didn't cut it according to their creators.

The 7 & 8 year olds learned the tune on their recorders.  There are only 3 notes for this tune (E,D & G) so it was fast and easy for most of them.  They had fun improvising in G pentatonic with the Orff Orchestra while singing the tune.

Here's a process I think will work for most classrooms and is as far I will be taking Love the Bugs this year.

Preparation

Set up the Orff Orchestra in G pentatonic.

bars left in...G  A  B  D  E  (take out the Fish and Chips...that means take out the F & C bars)

Processes for All ages 
Preschool (5 steps)

1. Complete the process from Love the Bugs (part 1).  Part 1 is where we learn the words and add the clapping bit at the end of each line.  We also create extra verses in part one.  If you learn the clapping bit it can be played on shakers or woods during the final performance.
2. Chant "Earth Day, Earth Day, Earth Day, Earth Day".  It's fun to stomp this too and provides a gross motor activity in this process. 
3. The preschool ages play any notes as they chant "Earth Day".  They love it.  
4. They try to concentrate and perform "Earth Day" as I sing the melody or play it on my recorder.  There is much laughter when they can't or I get mixed up and clap in the wrong spot or sing the wrong words.
5. We haven't tried to add the clapping bit/shaker bit while "Earth Day" is being chanted yet.  Maybe next week!

Ages 5-7

1. Complete the process as above to learn chant.
2. The older kids (K/Gr.1) play "Earth Day" as a bordun on G and D, either together or alternating from G to D.  
3. They also try to concentrate and perform "Earth Day" as I sing the tune or play it on my recorder. 

Ages  7 and older

1. Complete the process as above to learn chant and clapping bit/shaker bit.
2. Gr.2 and older learn to play the melody on recorder.
3. Those who enjoy the recorder part choose to play with me.  Those who wish to play the bordun move to the Orff instruments.  
4. I assigned "Earth Day" to the alto and bass instruments. 
5. The soprano and glocks play the "claps" after the words "Love the bugs".   This is a little tricky to write out.  I'm not sure if you can follow what I mean!

Recap

Learn the words and the clapping bit (from part 1...see last post). 

Learn the Earth Day chant.

Put them together.

Transfer the words to melody and sing it or play on the recorder. (send me an email for a simple mp3 recording of melody)

Transfer the clapping bit to shakers or woods.

Transfer the "Earth Day" ostinato to the Orff Orchestra.

Now...try all these parts at the same time.

In between each verse play a tremelo on the "D" bar and chant,
"How......do you....celebrate.....Earth Day?"

Love the bugs! (part 1)

Love the bugs! (clap, clap)

Love the bugs! (clap, clap)

If you wanna celebrate

Earth Day, don't wait!

Love the bugs! (clap, clap)

Love the bugs! (clap, clap)

This little ditty is new to my studio this year.

I'll share how we end up using this little chant with the various ages.  

So far...

Ages 3-1/2 to 7

1. Prepare a chart...I've included mine above. 
2. Chant and clap the clapping parts to learn the words.
3. Brainstorm some of the ways we can think of to take care of the Earth and celebrate Earth Day.
4. Chant and clap the new ideas.  
5. Last week a little girl said, "Turn off the lights" clap, clap  and a little boy said,"Save your water" clap, clap.  There were more wonderful suggestions and we incorporated them all into this Earth Day rhyme.  
6. Find some percussion instruments to play in the clapping parts.  Last week we used sticks and shakers.  
7. This week we are planning to sing the tune and play the claps on drums and with the Orff Orchestra.  I'll let you know how it goes.  

If you'd like to hear the rhythm & melody, send me an email and I'll send you another one of my simple mp3's!

Pianoforte Parachutes (part 4 in the wind whistle series)

Activity # 3 - Waves of Musicality

You need kids (ages 3-1/2-4 years and older), a parachute and a wind whistle.

The last post at Make Me Musical listed Activities #1 and #2 for younger ages.

This wind whistle activity is for preschool ages and older.

• Spread out the parachute and have all the children hold an edge of the parachute.
• Start with everyone crouched to the floor and the parachute still and on the floor.

• Prep the children to respond to "pianissimo", "piano", "mezzoforte" , "forte" and "fortissimo" sounds of the wind whistle with the parachute.
• Teacher blows very softly (pianissimo) and children move the parachute just slightly.

• As the wind blows louder, the parachute flies higher and faster.
• Suddenly stopping the wind may cause the parachute to suddenly collapse to the ground.

• Older children are generally able to do this response activity without speaking.  The younger ages are unrestrained in their excitement.

• I like to practise the "no words, no voices" idea as it seems to help children really listen to the whistle and not get swept up into a frenzy with the "forte" wind sounds.

• Dramatic endings are fun...just suddenly stop.

• Faded endings are fun too...gradually decrescendo the wind sounds.

What's a Wind Whistle? (part 1)

One of my favorite, most-used, fun, attention-getting instruments is the wind whistle. 

It sounds like the wind and creates an instant calm in the class when I bring it out and begin blowing it.  The kids stop what ever they are doing and look around for the sound.  Eventually, they focus on me and I have their attention.

I keep it available during my classes and find myself reaching for it unconsciously to bring focus to a class, to create an atmosphere, to lead movement activity.

More to come on wind whistle games!

Spring Has Sprung! (part 1)

Spring has arrived! 

Let's celebrate!

This is a little chant I have used with all ages.

Spring has sprung

Spring has sprung

The grass is growing green

The sun is shining now and

Birds are seen!

Spring has sprung

The grass is growing green

The sun is shining now and 

Flowers are seen!

e.g 

brainstormed ideas for last line

Tulips are seen!

Worms are seen!

Fishermen are seen!

Baby birds are seen!

A crocus is seen!

Blossoms are seen!

Sandals are seen!

Ages 1-5:  

We sing it over and over while we play beats. 

With the parents and children, together we change the last line of the poem each time to brainstorm all our spring ideas. 

I have a very simple mp3 recording if you'd like to hear the melody.  Just send me an email and I'll forward a copy to you.  

We play beats using any small percussion (drums, shakers, bells and even body percussion).

I love to play beats on the Orff instruments with my classes.

I usually set up them up in C pentatonic before the class. (Leave in the C,D,E,G,A bars and take all the rest out).

Ages: 4-7

Introduce the poem as a chant, instead of a song.

Create a spring drama...whisper (chant) softly and repeat the poem, each time adding more volume until spring is shouting out!   

It's most effective to use small drums to keep beats as we're chanting.

With ages 6 and older, I have them walk the beats as they chant and we use our bodies quite dramatically when we crescendo.

Use the musical terms 

piano (soft) 

crescendo (gradually louder)

forte (loud)

I have a long list of variations on this theme.

I will post more about adding layers of spring in my next post!

Is Susan your teacher?

One of my all time favorite Musicalia stories was told to me by a loving grandmother.

Her little granddaughter was at preschool.   She was almost 4 years old.

She wasn't in her preschool class though, she was waiting by the entrance to the preschool with her music bag in her hand.

While she was waiting, one of the other teachers said, "Why are you standing there?"

"I'm waiting for Grandma." 

"Oh," said the teacher, "Are you going somewhere?"
"We're going to Musicalia."

"Oh," said the teacher, "Is Susan your teacher?"

The little girl looked back at her.   

She said nothing.  

Because she was thinking...

Eventually, she says,  

"No...we don't have a teacher in our class but there's a big kid named Susan!" 

Beat Competence: A Natural Ability or a Learned Skill? (post No.3)

If one of your students or your own child can not keep a beat, what do you do? 

I love learning strategies that support learners and one of the ways I support children to become more "beat competent" is with "floor work" or "tummy time".  I also do some other things...but I'll talk about those in another post. 

If this is of interest to you, I recommend reading some science-based research.

Science Supports This

Dr. Carla Hannaford, neurophysiologist and educator, has written a wonderful book called, "Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head".  I have this book listed here, on Susan's Bookshelf.  I highly recommend reading this, if you haven't already.  

I have several copies.  One for me and extras in my studio for the parents and any teaching colleagues to borrow.  It is packed with information about the emotional, physical, developmental underpinnings of learning.

Carla Hannaford suffered from a form of dyslexia growing up.  She attributed her disability to having missed certain developmental stages.  When her own daughter was going through the developmental stage of crawling, Carla describes how she was so concerned her daughter would miss the crawling stage (and suffer learning consequences) that she made her daughter crawl around while Carla crawled over-top the daughter to be sure enough time was spent actually crawling.

Ms. Hannaford knew her science/research and she was making sure her own child would go through the "readiness" developmental stages.   

Now, I haven't met her daughter so I have no idea if she was beat competent but what I love about that story is the mother's awareness that she could make a difference in her daughter's development and she took action to do this.

Obviously, I'm someone who believes learning to keep a beat is possible even if it appears that keeping a beat is impossible.  
I believe this because of the research I have read.  
I believe this because I have used physical "recovery" methods to nurture growth in this area.

I just love not giving up on a child!

Presto! and Adagio...for children

Presto!

...it's not a magic trick

...presto is just the Italian musical term for fast.

Meet Presto Bunny...

Presto Bunny!

Presto Bunny!

She's fast!  She's quick!

She's oh so funny.

Yesterday, after meeting Presto Bunny (fingerpuppet) one of the kids actually said...

Let's run presto!  Let's do the running game and hit the drum! 

I suggested the Spiderman theme song music, they agreed and off we went!

I stood in the running pathway holding a drum out.  

The children hit the drum as they ran by.  

(It's an African dance class activity...and we all love it)

We've been hitting the drum for a few months now and the children are so accurate at hitting the drum as they run by,  they are

beginning to get some loft as they move thru the hit!  

It's absolutely thrilling for them and beautiful to watch!

When the running is complete it's time to bring out Adagio Bird.

Meet Adagio Bird...

Adagio Bird 

Is slow and sweet

Be gentle with him

Don't tangle his feet!

Because Adagio is a marionette, he must move slowly or his strings get tangled.

After Adagio meets the children and sits with them,

we all try to walk with Adagio using our own "Adagio Feet". 

This is quite a challenge.

We listen to Mozart's Piano Concerto #23, Adagio movement (check out yesterday's post to hear this beautiful adagio music)  moving with our adagio feet.

Of course, we all take turns holding the controls.  

What they don't know yet is I have a class set of Adagios and 

next week we will move as a flock of Adagios!  

In classes here at Musicalia the children move...a lot. 

I believe movement and language are connected 

and when we design activity that can incorporate both, 

very young children have a more integrated learning experience.