We are going to learn about different body percussion styles and have a go at making our own performances and patterns…

Watch

Watch and listen to these clips of body percussion in action…

1. THUD

This piece is called Me, Tarzan by the performing group THUD.

The group perform all sorts of body percussion pieces together.  

2. Pentatonix

Meet the band Pentatonix, there are 5 of them like a pentagon!

Here they have used body percussion to accompany their song White Winter Hymnal

3. Anna Meredith

Watch this video with Dev from BBC Radio1.

He asks composer Anna Meredith where her inspiration comes from and talks about how we can all make music with our bodies.  

Learn

This video by Visual Musical Minds will teach you a body percussion pattern, then we want you to come up with your own!

Use this video to learn Alpha Four – watch the video as many times as you need to before practising along with it.

It has two different patterns – called ‘A’ and ‘B’, so once you have learned each pattern, you will be able to perform along with the video!

If you are able to make a video of yourselves performing this piece, please share it with us using #ONLittleSchool 

Create

Choose your body parts first. They can be: 

  • Stamps
  • Claps on your knees and thighs
  • Tummy claps
  • Chest claps
  • Clicks
  • Clapping the back of your hand

Now have a think about the rhythm. If you read music, you can use this example to get you started: 

Share

Here is Jennifer using body percussion to accompany songs she is playing on the violin. You can join in with your own body percussion at home!  

We hope you have enjoyed practicing Body Percussion. You can share your patterns and videos of your performances with us on social media using #ONLittleSchool.

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