Kindergarten: Maracas ("Baby Llama"). To play the maracas, hold one upright in each hand. Keep wrists still and gently punch the air in front of you. We should never knock the maracas together or pound them on the floor.
1st grade: Hand drums, rhythm sticks, woodblocks, and triangles ("Jungle Beat" and "Instrument Practice"). Each instrument has a distinctive sound.
2nd and 3rd grade: Rhythm sticks and bell kits ("Yankee Doodle," "Fire in the Mountain," and "Chicken on a Fencepost").
- To play rhythm sticks: hold one hand still and gently move the other hand to tap the sticks together. For longer note values, one stick scrapes gently across the other. 3rd graders had a variation where they gently practiced their cross-over technique, as well as sixteenth notes, by gently tapping the sticks on the floor. Rhythm sticks should never be pounded on the floor or used aggressively on oneself or on others.
- To play bell kits, as well as glockenspiels and xylophones, hold mallets firmly in both hands and gently bounce the head of the mallet on the key. We don't want to press the mallet onto the key and hold it there, because the sound will not resonate, or ring out.
4th and 5th grade: Tubano drums, maracas, and xylophones ("Take Time in Life," "Water Come a-Me Eye," and "Cotton Eye Joe").
Ask your student to sing one of the above for you!
