Chinese Percussion Music

Grade Levels: 5 - 10 Teach students about Chinese percussion instruments and ensemble performances. This lesson was contributed by Han Kuo-Huang.

Objectives

tudents will play in a Chinese percussion ensemble. tudents will perform several compositions with percussion instruments.

Materials

!Lion "ance #umber $%& !Lion "ance #umber '%& and !"ragon "ance& (found in Chinese Percussion Ensembles). Cymbals mall gongs played with a thin wooden mallet Large gongs played with a padded mallet Large drums played with two thic* stic*s

Procedure
$. Give the students the following bac*ground information: The Chinese call their percussion ensemble luogu% which means !gongs and drums.& The ensemble may range in si+e from two to a small group of players. ,ercussion ensembles are used in a variety of settings: theaters% parades% and fol* music groups. The four ma-or instruments used in Chinese percussion music are the bo cymbals% the xiaoluo (small gong)% the daluo (large gong)% and the dagu (large s*in-headed drum). .f Chinese instruments are not available% use /estern substitutes% such as drums% tam-tam% and small cymbals. 2. ,erform the !Lion "ance #umber $& and !Lion "ance #umber '& (0ound in Chinese Percussion Ensembles) and then perform the !"ragon "ance& (0ound in Chinese Percussion Ensembles). 1ead the following performance instructions before proceeding: a. The drummer is the leader of the ensemble and sets the tempo (each 2uarter note e2uals appro3imately $44-$$') by stri*ing the drum twice on the rim before each selection (indicated in the score by the 3-shaped note heads). 5ach composition repeats in ostinato fashion. To end the performance% the drummer should play the ending signal% which is a drumroll followed by two

eighth notes% shown -ust below the appropriate measure of the score. This signal leads the group to the conclusion. b. ,erform each composition alone. /hen the students have mastered the performances% play all the compositions together as a suite% repeating the individual segments as many times as you wish. /hen played as a suite% only the introductory signal for the first piece is used6 the ending measures of the first and second pieces are omitted. The !ending signals& in the first and second pieces become !changing signals& for the ne3t section.

Standards Correlations

Standard 2
: ,erforming on instruments% alone and with others% a varied repertoire of music

Standard 5
: 1eading and notating music

53cerpted from Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education.