BucketBandBucketbandisatoolforlearningrhythmsandbeginnerimprovisationaltechniquesandinasimple,interactiveway.IlearnedaboutbucketbandthroughOrchkids,aninner-cityprogramwhereI’vebeenvolunteeringteachingmusicafterschoolfor5years.Eachstudentgetsabucketandapairofdrumsticks.Westartoutwithsimplecallandresponse,orwhatIcall“echoes”.IaskthegrouptoechoasimplerhythmthatIplay.Oftenputalyrictoit,forexample,“pea-nutbut-terpie,”willequatetofour1/8thnotes(pea-nut-but-ter)andone1/4thnote(pie).I’msecretlyteachingmyinstrumentalistshowtoreadandunderstandrhythmicalvalues(basicmusictheory).We’realsosecretlylearninghowtolistentoeachother,andhowtobuildacohesivegroupsound.Italsohelpsat-riskyouthtogetouttheiraggressionsinaproductiveway.Oncetheyunderstandvalues(1/8notes,¼notes,etc)wecomeupwithashortriff.Weallrepeattheriffthreetimes,andthefourthtimeIletthestudentsimproviseusingtherhythmsthatwelearned.I’vebeenusingbucketbandinmycoremiddleschoolcurriculumforTKyears,andI’vefoundthatstartingwithbucketshelpsthestudentsinafewways.First,itde-mystifiestheideaofplayinganinstrument:anyonecanplayabucket.Second,it’ssosimplethatitencouragesexperimentation.Bygivingthemasolidbaselineandlettingthemimproviseoffofthat,bucketbandcreatesacomfortablespacetoexplorerhythmicconceptswithoutthestudentsworryingaboutsoundingperfectHavingeveryoneonthesameinstrument,sotospeak,alsohelpsthestudentsgetareferenceforcomplicatedrhythms.LateronIwilldosimilarexerciseswiththeiractualinstruments,trumpets,clarinets,orwhathaveyou.