Teaching Brazilian percussion, Ollie Tunmer

Teaching Brazilian percussion

Ollie Tunmer gives curriculum some rhythm

As the Director of Beat Goes On I have the privilege of delivering STOMP-style Body Percussion and Brazilian Percussion workshops in schools and CPD events throughout the UK and abroad. I’m very lucky that what I do is naturally loud, exciting and highly accessible, meaning that the sense of accomplishment and fun can be achieved fairly quickly!

Maintaining this, however, requires some clear methodology. I find that, as a musician, if I have a verbal phrase that sounds like the rhythm I’m trying to learn, the rhythm becomes more memorable. If a workshop facilitator includes the keywords of a project, then participants will end up repeating the keywords using the rhythm that they’re learning. For example, when teaching an ‘agogo’ bell rhythm from the Brazilian style ‘maracatu’, I use the following:

1 L Let e & H the a

2 L groove e

& H flow a 3 L on e H the a H a- 4 L go- e & H go a

L = low bell H = high bell

Along with many of my colleagues, I find this indispensable, both as a teaching / learning aid and as a compositional tool. Last year I delivered a 4 week samba project with Caitlin Sherring and pupils at Woodcroft Primary School in North London, during which pupils learned traditional rhythms and the names of 7 instruments, and composed their own samba ‘breaks’ using this approach – quite an achievement!

Ensemble music-making frequently provides a platform for the development of other, non-music-specific, skills. The ‘mestre’ (leader) of a samba band has to develop communication and leadership skills. Training young people as mestres can allow them to take ownership of their learning. A ‘surdo’ (bass drum) player may be required to play a pulse-based rhythm which, although simple, is of huge

importance to the overall sound of the band, providing a sense of responsibility for the student involved.

One element that often provokes interest (and, at times, trepidation!) is the linking of music with other curriculum areas. As the awareness of the clear links between musical involvement and academic achievement increases, creative approaches for all subjects are still being explored, despite the merciless obsession with test results from certain strands of society. It takes a bold, courageous (and well supported) school or teacher to break away from ‘normal’ teaching styles but the results can be life changing.

We’ve proudly been working with literacy guru Pie Corbett of Talk4Writing fame (www.talk4writing.co.uk), taking his ingenious storytelling and poetry methods down a body percussion route – high energy, creative fun for all involved, with astounding results! Pie also had these kind words regarding our collaboration:

‘Working with Ollie is an extraordinary experience and I would recommend him to any school. We have used body percussion to let the rhythms and meanings of poems and stories fly. Exploring story/poetry through the arts deepens imaginative engagement and makes language memorable.’

Beat Goes On also use the rhythms of topic keywords (as noted above) as a tool for composition and the holistic learning of, for example, Brazilian culture. This also develops students’ literacy skills in a fun, musical and memorable way.

Composer, percussionist and educator Keith Terry of US–based Crosspulse (www.crosspulse.com) has developed a brilliant use of body percussion to teach numeracy, which Beat Goes On have been incorporating into their own work. These kinaesthetic approaches completely revolutionise a typical maths lesson and they really work!

The Rio Olympics and Paralympics inspired many examples of topic-based teaching covering the sport, dance, history, food, fashion, religion, language, geography, ecology and of course music of Brazil. Beat Goes On had great fun working with pupils and teachers to help make learning come alive!

Feedback from all of these approaches is unanimously positive – they cover the full range of learning styles allowing all children and students to access material in new, creative ways. The use of body percussion is very budget-friendly as the participants are the instruments!

Ollie Tunmer is Director, Beat Goes On (www. beatgoeson.co.uk) Email: info@beatgoeson.co.uk