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How to Turn Down the Volume of Your Bucket Drumming Class

1/12/2016

3 Comments

 
Nobody likes a loud classroom. I recently subbed for a colleague and I had to wear ear plugs while teaching. It was intense. But volume-phobia shouldn’t discourage you from teaching bucket drumming. 

Here are some ideas for keeping the decibels down in your drumming classroom.
​
1. Towels     

Get some cheap hand towels from Target or maybe try these from Amazon. Toss them on top of the bucket or fold them once or twice first.  When the sticks hit them, the sound will be dampened by 10-15 db.         
Bucket Muted With Towel
Top View
Bucket Muted With Towel
Side View
2. Partners
     
Reducing the number of buckets is the quickest way to reduce volume. When students work in partners, your bucket total will be cut in half. I never use more than 10 or 12 buckets at a time. However, make sure that all students have sticks; this allows students to air drum when it isn’t their turn to play on the bucket. A lot more on this topic here.  
Picture

3. Teach your students how to play quiet

This one may seem obvious/obnoxious, but a lot of the time, students drum loud because nobody taught them how to drum quiet. And if you are able to control the volume at the source, the other techniques in this post become failsafes. Teaching students to play quietly on the bucket is very doable. Here’s how: 
  • From day one, teach students to keep their sticks low to create quiet sounds.
  • Perform all music at a variety of volumes. Example: If the students learn a One Bucket Groove, have them perform it quiet as well. 
  • Constantly model what it looks like to play quiet
  • Try all activities (echo patterns, warm ups, games, etc.) at low stick heights. 
3 Comments
Anusha Jeeva link
5/6/2017 07:44:05 pm

Loving this website as it is teaching me how to teach my students.

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Mark Loh
7/5/2021 04:05:51 am

Was asked to cover bucket drumming in the music lesson for Year 7 although I had never done this before, I searched online and came across your website and it is a LIFE SAVER! Great tips and content with clear demonstrations. Thank you!

Reply
Bagel Cookbooks link
5/31/2023 06:01:03 pm

I enjoyed this post thanks for sharing.

Reply



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    I'm David Birrow. I teach and play percussion. This blog is a companion to The Bucket Book. Contact me at : [email protected] or learn more about me at: www.DavidBirrow.com

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