Quality of sound
- Develop some control of the position where the sticks or hands strike the instrument, recognising the effect that it will have on the quality of sound
- Have an awareness of the range of mallets, sticks, beaters and brushes available
- Develop a controlled sound at two or more dynamic levels
Demonstrate to learners how the position in which the hands or sticks strike the instrument changes the sound. Encourage them to experiment.
On the djembe, introduce the bass sound and the tone sound.
Use copycat/call-and-response games, concentrating on where the sticks or hands strike the instrument.
Engage learners in a competition to see how many clean single strokes they can play in a row on a snare drum.
Ensure that both sticks rebound to the same height each time. The sticks should not be allowed to rest on the drumhead at any time, causing ‘buzzing’.
When playing with sticks, encourage learners to aim to hit two spots stuck on to the drum, e.g. draw a face on a practice pad and aim to strike the eyes.
To facilitate striking in the correct place, encourage learners to keep a triangular shape between the sticks and their body.
Teach learners to play simple rhythms with their sticks kept low. Then, using the wrists, strike the instrument from a higher position.
Allow the natural weight of the stick to control the dynamic level.
Ask learners to choose ways of playing simple phrases using different dynamics.
Ask learners to choose ways of playing simple phrases using a range of sticks/mallets where appropriate.
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