Coordination and control of instruments and body
- Play the drum kit pedals with increased control
- Use finger damping on the timpani and Glockenspiel and awareness of pedal tuning mechanisms
- Further develop basic skills on a variety of auxiliary orchestral/Latin percussion instruments, incorporating moving between instruments
Ask learners to play ‘walking feet’ (right foot, left foot alternately) to basic rock patterns.
This can be the starting point for four- way coordination.
Play the drum kit with feet and hands out of balance dynamically and discuss the effect.
When playing with sticks, ask learners to practise playing and damping at quicker tempi.
Ensure that the first finger and thumb maintain their grip on the shaft of the stick when damping.
Ensure that learners practise basic playing and damping techniques on a range of instruments.
For optimum damping on the timpani, encourage learners to spread their back three fingers to cover as wide a surface area as possible. If no stand is available, a bass drum may be supported in a flat or upright position on two chairs facing each other. Placing a bass drum flat makes it easier to play and damp. A triangle may be easily suspended using a short piece of string and a bulldog clip clamped to a music stand.
Provide short, simple arrangements in which learners can play along to backing tracks and other recordings.
When using backing tracks with drum kit playing, make sure the balance is correct for the player and the listener.
Where appropriate to the musical style, continue to develop learners’ ability to combine singing with playing. For example, teach a traditional West African song with some djembe playing in the rests.
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