“We Will Rock You”-Bucket Drums+Guitar

I have to admit. After watching the recent movie, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, I got Queen fever ALL OVER AGAIN. I am convinced that most everyone has gone through a Queen phase. But I am even MORE convinced, that the majority of you have probably sung “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the top of your lungs at a wedding reception or on a road trip with friends. Although my lesson idea does not include this specific song, it does include “We Will Rock You” by Queen. If you are looking for an introductory lesson for beginner guitars, beginner bucket drums, or BOTH-you’ve come to the right place. Also, if you’d like any information about teaching other modern band instruments, such as the ukulele, check out this blog post.

First, I teach students my 4th and 5th graders the E minor chord on the guitar. I teach them that when looking at chord charts, you count the strings right to left. The vertical lines represent strings, and the horizontal lines represent frets. The numbers near the black dots represent the finger that they’re supposed to use.

Top tips to remember when introducing guitar:

• 3 ways of holding guitar. 1)Tabletop-laying guitar upside down on their laps 2)Quiet guitar-Laying the right hand (or hand near sound hole) over the top of the strings 3)Playing Position-holding guitar upright and ready to play
• Teaching how to hold the pick. We hold the pick with our thumb and first finger on the flat side of the triangle, so that it sticks out like a bird’s beak.
• Having a management system in place. For example: If you play 3 times without me asking you, you will have to sit out today and I’ll send a note home to parents.
• Emphasize that they should NEVER, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, turn the tuning pegs.
• Let them jam!! Don’t focus too much on teaching all the string names, parts of the guitar, and theory before you let them play. You can teach them the parts of the guitar as you go.

After explaining all of this, I divide them into 2 groups. One group receives the guitars and picks, I teach the guitarists the strum pattern for “We Will Rock You”, which is a simple-“down, down, PAT”. After practicing a few times, I immediately have students put their guitars in tabletop position. While this is happening, I have a trusted student pass out the buckets and 2 drumsticks to the other group. When they receive the drumsticks, they are told to put them in “resting position”-meaning the sticks are up at their shoulders.

Next, I explain parts of the bucket drum, such as the center and the rim. I explain that we will only be playing in the center of the drum.

We’ll watch this video and practice with just hands-For example: Right, Right, CLAP. Right, Right, CLAP. After that, we’ll add the sticks.

Then, we will watch the video again and put it all TOGETHER! After this, guitarists switch with the drummers. Rinse and repeat! If this stresses you out and is TOO MUCH for one lesson, I would recommend dividing this into 3 lessons. 1st lesson-Guitar, 2nd lesson-Bucket Drums, 3rd lesson-Putting it all together.

TIPS ON GETTING GUITARS/BUCKET DRUMS/EQUIPMENT:

• GUITARS- When purchasing guitars, I would HIGHLY recommend 3/4 size guitars. You can get them at Amazon, Guitar Center, ask for donations from donorschoose.org, or ask to see if your district could qualify for a Little Kids Rock program.
• BUCKET DRUMS: I went to Home Depot and asked for a donation. They had me fill out a form, and send an e-mail to the manager. Then I received 40 donated buckets!! So try out Home Depot, Lowes, or your local hardware store before you purchase them with your own money.
• PICKS: Just go ahead and buy 2 of the largest packs of picks known to man, because somehow half of them will be gone even if you are militant about collecting them at the end of class. These are my favorite picks, AND you can buy them in 72 packs! YESS!
• DRUMSTICKS: You can get drumsticks on Amazon as well. OR you can use the rhythm sticks in your room until you can purchase drumsticks.

I KNOW that your guitar and/or bucket drum journey will be awesome. Above all, be sure to show your students that perfection isn’t the goal. The goal is to get them excited about music!!! So go forth and ROCK OUT!

Keepin’ it Simple,

Paige

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