Ok ok, you'll need to do a little teaching. But that's about all the energy I have left this time of year: a little. You can tell it's spring because the students start acting a little more wild, a little shorter on attention span...a little more squirrely. Add in concerts and grading and it's amazing any of us are still standing.

So you might be in the market for a lesson plan that works in just a single period and one you can use with multiple grade levels. And maybe one where you don't have to sweat too hard.

Maybe this groove can help...Below you'll find a lesson plan, play along track, video and song suggestions.

Turn on the video and have the students play along by watching their part on the screen and playing along. This is great because it's sometimes difficult to model more than one part at a time.

Next, turn on this play along track and have students play along. Download it here (don't forget to download the printable Lesson Plan too!)​

Then find some tunes and have the students play along with the music. They'll love it and offer a bunch of song suggestions. Once you 'safety check' their suggestions, turn on the song and play along.

​The tunes in the video include:

• We Found Love - Rihanna and Calvin Harris
• Hey Boy Hey Girl - Chemical Brothers
• Outside - Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris

All are at 128 bpm, but this groove works at slow, medium, and fast tempo. Here are some other suggestions:

• I Feel Good - James Brown (kind of quick, but fun)
• Happy - Pharrell 
• Oye Como Va - Santana version

To learn more, be sure to check out the Summer Junkyard Percussion Workshop. In 2017, it will be held on June 22nd from 9:00-4:00 pm in Minneapolis, MN. Lesson plans, process, repertoire and more are all covered in a fun, hands-on way. And delicious food! There is more information on the Workshops page. Happy drumming!

Last month I was fortunate enough to present at the Minnesota Music Educators Association Midwinter In-Service Clinic. The topic was about movement activities for K-12 students in the music classroom. We had a great set of volunteers to perform the different activities. The handout is below and you can download it here. 

Note: A different version of this material was first published in Reverberations ​on AOSA's website. Re-used with permission.

Movement is critical to student rhythmic development. The coordination of gross motor skills builds both steady beat skills and establishes the foundation for audiating meter. The Rhythmische Ubung by Gunild Keetman is an excellent source for movement development.

The 78 pieces for body percussion cover a wide variety of meters, phrase lengths, and orchestrations and many of the pieces can be adapted for junkyard percussion. 
​
For example, #51 utilizes gross-motor movement and looks like this:

Taping sticks make them more durable, safer, and slightly quieter. They also look cooler. 

​Junkyard percussion is an extremely practical and musical performance ensemble for your students.

Unfortunately, some teachers who want to teach bucket drumming don’t feel comfortable enough to get started. Others just don’t know where to begin.

​Here are some solutions to those common problems.


1. “It’s too loud."  

It’s true: bucket drumming has a higher volume ceiling than other ensembles. But that should not deter you from teaching bucket drumming. Earlier this year, I described three simple/quick/cheap ways to reduce the volume of your classroom. With a little care, nobody should ever worry about hearing damage when teaching bucket drumming. ​
​

2. “I don’t know where to get the instruments."

Don’t worry, I do! Just use this shopping list to gather the instruments you need. The list explains what, where, and how much stuff you need. If you are looking for buckets on the cheap (or free) take a look at this list of bucket sources. ​

A common hurdle for music teachers new to bucket drumming is where to get the buckets. While buckets are very affordable ($3ish) from large hardware stores like Home Depot (the bright orange ones are my favorite), it's possible to gather them for free with a little leg work.

Below are all the places that I've heard music teachers say they've found buckets for bucket drumming.  Some are donations, others are simply used and then tossed by the original owners. Feel free to post other sources in the comments.

Click here to download a pdf version of this list.

If you already have buckets and they get stuck together a lot, try some of the preventative measures in this post.