PERCUSSION OF THE WORLD FOR DISTRICT 75

This residency is a multi-cultural exploration of the use of drumming in many different parts of the world, and fosters a sense of community through hands-on instrument playing. With broad-based creativity as the focus, these programs also incorporate simple movement, literacy, global studies, and mathematics in the course curriculum, as a specific lesson plan is created in conversation with classroom teachers and school administrators. Students learn to play percussion in several cultural styles. By the end of the course, the class will be able to identify and play the different percussion styles of Sicily, Egypt and Turkey, and compare and contrast the works with the corresponding cultures.

As part of the curriculum, the class explores the relationship between vibration and sound. Concepts and skills learned include:

• Using percussive instruments and student’s bodies, hands, feet and breath to explore the question “What is music?”

• Understanding the meaning of “orchestration”

• Comparing and contrasting different styles of music-making through listening and performing

• Exploring the relationship between vibration and sound

• Arranging sounds into patterns and performing those patters based on visual cues

• Creating a score for an existing narrative

• Establishing procedures for working with instruments, applying the concepts of following a conductor to instrumental performance

Each student will have the opportunity to compose, conduct and perform an instrumental piece showcasing his or her understanding of dynamics, and another piece containing two instruments and different tempos to manipulate tone and message.

Younger students learn to read and compose their own music using symbolic notation; older students learn or expand their familiarity with solfege, depending on their previous musical training.

The program typically ends with a shared performance for peers, parents, and the school community.