Drums/Keyboards:

Experience Design: Intro to Keyboard and Drums

Designers: Emily Bryson (Drumset), Molly Cahlink (Hand Drums), Lucy Moss (Keyboard), Rachel Pennington
(Keyboard), Alexis Anderson, and Nikki Shawn

Summary/ Overview:
This activity will be learning chords on keyboards, how to play drums, and hand drums. The goal is for learners to
feel comfortable with each instrument. Learners will understand basic chords on piano, including D, G, and C. Also
learn three different rhythmic patterns on hand drums, and why each are important. Finally be able to successfully
use a drum set and understand how it works. The leaders of the project will all show the learners how to play the
song when we begin, and then divide into different areas and teach the learners.

Rationale:
This experience takes place with the goal of enjoying music in mind. While we are teaching the men of Gemeinschaft
about the keyboard and drums, we do not expect them to be able to, or want to, master these instruments. Our hopes
are that they will be able to connect to each other, and us, through music that they enjoy and can relate to. Also, we
hope that they can find peace and contentment within themselves through music, and can utilize music in the future
to help process and communicate their emotions. Overall, we hope our love of music can be shared with them, and
that they learn something exciting and new along the way!

Standards:
VA Standards: MG.2 The student will echo, read, and perform rhythms and rhythmic patterns, including whole notes,
half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, dotted half notes, dotted quarter notes, and corresponding rests.
MG.12 The student will begin to use articulations, dynamic contrasts, and phrasing as means of expression.
MG.13 The student will perform and improvise simple rhythmic and melodic examples in call-and response styles

I Can Statements:
 I can differentiate rhythms and melodies in music by ear
 I can both echo drum patterns as well as create patterns that I believe fit in a given song
 I can play a basic chord progression, and apply it in a multitude of songs

Materials and Visual Aids:

 Keyboard
 Drumset
 Hand drums
 A poster including the needed chords
 A sheet showing the lyrics and designated chords

Detailed Process:
Introductions;
Each of us will explain who we are, and what we are going to teaching today. “Hi we are ________, and we are
from the JMU school of music. Tonight you are going to be learning about 3 different types of instruments.” We each
then will explain what instruments we will be teaching. We will then talk about how our end goal of this is not for
everyone to be perfect, but to have fun learning something. We are here to have our learners enjoy music, and not
feel pressured to be perfect, because none of us are.

Perform the song “Sweet Home Alabama”

As a group we will each get our instruments and perform the song as a group. Let us note this performance will be
very informal and not perfect, as we are are still learning these instruments ourselfs.

Split ourselves into three groups

We then will tell everyone to pick a station. Make sure everyone is equally divided between each group. Note that
drums can be near hand drums because of the limited amount of things we have.

Hand Drum
 Introduce the different parts of the Hand Drum. The top, and the side. Talk about the tonal
differences in each part.
 Have learners place the drum in between their legs and explain why you hold it that way
 Explain the parts in which you hit the drum with your hand
 Demonstrate a Bass Tone, Mute Tone, Open Tone
 Exhibit how different tones are with the palm of a hand, fingers and a slap on the hand drum sound
 Learn how to make a musical sequence using different rhythmic patterns to “Sweet Home Alabama”
 Practice each sequence slowly and then gradually increase tempo
 Ask if there are any questions about the hand drum
 If time is allowed learn to play another song on the hand drum

Drumset
 I’ll begin by slowly demonstrating a simple pattern on the drumset, one that I learned the first time I
ever played!
 After demonstrating it once at tempo, I will then slow it down so that the learner can visualize every
action I make.
 Then it is his turn to play! I will hand over the drumsticks, and assist him in pointing out each
movement one by one, if needed
 I will help the learner to change his tempo, and alternate the pattern in any way he desires.
 If, at this point, the learner shows skill and some boredom, I plan to challenge them and see what
other patterns they want to learn!
 One thing I have learned about drums, that I will then teach, is that most percussionists do not
follow the sheet music when using a drum set. The excitement is in how the learner hears the drum
part fitting into the songs, and with the instruments around them
 At this point, I will sing as the learner decides how he thinks the drum should sound with the song.
He is also welcome to explore the different parts of the drum, that I can name as he begins
incorporating them into his own pattern.
Keyboard:
 We will begin by demonstrating the three different chords, and the correct fingering for each of them
  After we have showed them how to play the chord progression, we will allow them to play around on
the keyboard and allow for their individualized learning. We will be walking around if anyone has
questions, or can’t figure something out, but this allotted time is meant to be more informal.
 After they have had some time to play around with the three different chords, D, G, and C, we will
play each one individually together to make sure everyone is playing the right thing
 After we have gone through each chord, we will put them all together at a slower tempo, but in the
same progression as it appears in the song
 Once they have gotten the hang of that, we will speed it up to the regular tempo of the song
 After this, we will both sing and play all together at normal speed
 We will ask if they have any questions, and if there’s anything else about the keyboard they want to
learn
 If time allows, we will learn another song

At the end:
In the remaining time we will come back all together and play “Sweet Home Alabama” if people want to rotate
instruments, we can gladly do that.
After ask if people feel like they got to explore things outside their comfort zone? What was the something they
learned/gained from this experience? What could have we done differently
to help?

Assessment:
 For hand drums I will listen and look for hand positioning, and tonality from the drum. This will be an informal
assessment.
 For keyboarding, we will check to see if they are able to play the three different chords, and transition
between them
 For the drumset, I will see how well they are able to play the given pattern, improvise, and keep a steady
beat.
Extensions:
 At the end of this experience, if we have made it through the whole song learning the chords and rhythms on
the drum, we will include another song that they can learn that also includes the same chords and
progression. We can take any questions the participants may have, and make sure all of their needs have
been met.

Accommodations:
 Size
o If any of the chords are too big of a stretch for any of the learners to reach, we will have them just
play the tonic, or the root of the chord
o Sometimes the entire drum set can be intimidating, so I will begin with focusing on 3 drums, and
allowing the learner to explore with more as they gain confidence and familiarity.
 Color
o On the keyboard, we will color coordinate each of the four chords, so the learners will be able to tell
which chord they are playing and learning just by the colors
o On the drumset, colors will be provided to describe each drum in a simple way. For example the
snare drum may have a blue sticker on it, indicating that when I say blue, the snare should be
played.
 Pacing
 o Although we only have a limited amount of time, we want to make sure that each learner fully
understands the chords, fingering, and progression of the song
o Throughout this experience, we will go around and make sure that each of the learners is able to
comfortably transition between chords, and they understand which chord to play at what times
o If they are struggling with the chords or transitions, we will go slower and make sure everyone
understands before we move on to a different section
o Luckily, the drum set can be explored and played in any degree of pacing. If the learner prefers
mastering one task at a time, the song will still sound great!
o With the drumset, I will also begin the patterns very slowly, allowing the learner to feel the rhythm
and steady beat before pushing the tempo faster.
 Modality
o Leaders will demonstrate these different types of modalities:
Visually:
o On the keyboard, we will have a sheet that shows the different chords with their designated colors,
so the learners will be able to visually see the notes and chords for the keyboard
o We will model how to play the different chords on the keyboard, so they are able to see what
playing it may look like
o The drum set will be modeled initially, at a slow tempo and then at a quicker, more desirable one
o The drum set will also include colorful stickers, which may help some learners to remember which
drum to hit, and when.
Auditorily:
o We will play the chord progressions on the keyboard, so the participants are able to hear what they
sound like before they attempt to play
o I will play the pattern on the drumset initially, so the learner can hear the accents, the differences in
drums, and how the two interact
Kinesthetically:
o If learners are struggling with the chords or transitions, we will go around and place their hands in
the correct form and on the designated chords
o As a kinesthetic learner, the best way I learn is simply to do it. This is why I hope to place the
drumsticks in their hands as quickly as possible, after completing the first steps of internalizing the
music.
o If struggling, one way to help a kinesthetic learner on the drumset is to remove the drumset, and
have them do the movements slowly, in the air.