Thursday, January 21, 2010

Introduction to African Drumming!

Students in my Kindergarten classes have begun their two-month long drumming unit, which this year will focus on three specific cultural genres, including Afro/Brazilian, Japanese Taiko and Balkan/Bulgarian. As mentioned in the letter sent home with Kindergarten students, I will use the blog to regularly update you with what's going on in class, as well as provide as many at-home resources as I can so that families can extend what we're working on beyond the classroom.

This week, students were introduced to two specific African drums (one with African antecedents), the Djembe
and the Conga,Bold
using the story Toot and Puddle Get with the Beat.

(To read more about the Djembe, click here, and to read more about the Conga, click here.) Kindergarten students compared and contrasted Congas and Djembes of various sizes, and discussed their specific shapes. Students also discussed why drums are made to be certain shapes, and how the specific sound of each drum (or timbre) is affected by the shape. During an in class experiment, students determined that larger drums produced lower (pitched) sounds, and that smaller drums produce higher (pitched) sounds. Students also participated in an in-class "drum-circle" that included a small inner drum circle, with outer-circle dancers moving with shakers and scarves, following the beat provided by the small-group drum circle.

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