Exploring Unpitched Percussion Lesson
I LOVE the creative possibilities in the music room during October! From songs like, “Who Has Seen the Wind,” to poems and “B” sections about leaves falling, and of course Halloween, I find that students’ imaginations burst with turning imagery into sound!
As you may have read in the series of blog posts I wrote about Building Your Classroom: Unpitched Percussion, I consider a SIXTH category of UPP called, “Special Effect” instruments. These are instruments that make really cool sounds but aren’t necessarily rhythmic. Instruments like thunder drums, slapsticks, flexitones, and more, lend to student creativity by creating whimsical atmospheres, feelings, and images.
This early elementary lesson using the storybook, The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams can be an opportunity to introduce some new and soon- to-be-favorite unpitched percussion instruments to students!
- The storyline accumulates, meaning something new is added to the previous item listed, and then repeated. In this case, it’s the scarecrow being created from the shoes up the top hat.
- Each item of clothing is represented by a sound from an unpitched percussion instrument. We also add more sounds to the storyline too! Each student could have their own instrument (maybe double up on some UPP in which you have more than one of that instrument).
- Each piece of clothing ”played” matches the rhythm of the words. This helps students understand that ensemble skill of starting and stopping.
- Create an introduction or soundscape and use it as an opportunity to explain the term, “overture,” why it’s used, and what its value is.
Here are some suggestions for musically bringing alive
The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams!
| “One windy day….” | Slinky tubes open, swing in a circular motion; or fingernails on a hand drum; or wind chimes (or all of it!) |
| “….it started to get dark.” | Thunder Tube |
| “…a sliver of moon shining through…” | Tree Chime (or other metal UPP) |
| “…little old lady began to walk home” | Temple Blocks or A-Go-Go block like footsteps |
| “…two shoes, and the shoes went, clomp, clomp, clomp, clomp” | Wood Block |
| “…a pair of pants that went, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle” | Clatterpillar or Cabasa |
| “….a shirt that went, swish, swish, swish, swish.” | maracas |
| “…two white gloves that went, clap, clap, clap, clap” | Sand Blocks |
| “…and a tall black hat that went, nod, nod, nod, nod” | Guiros |
| “..startled by….a pumpkin head that went, BOO!” | drum |
| “ she didn’t stop to talk at all, she ran!” | Temple blocks at a running pace |
| “…with the door locked…” | Slapstick (door slam) |
| “….and she rocked, and rocked…” | Guiro, gently back and forth |
| “…heard a knock at the door” | Wood block |
| “…she slowly opened the door..” | Slow Ratchet |
| “…pumpkin head suddenly looked sad.” | Slide whistle |
| “…I have an idea!” | Energy chime or tree chime, or finger cymbals |
There is certainly much more you could add to enhance these suggestions! Let your imaginations run wild! AND! Of course you could add movement to this story too.
For more ideas and lesson plans on unpitched percussion instruments (UPP) check out our blog article, “Building Your Classroom Instrumentarium: Unpitched Percussion”