High School Music Composition Lesson

Looking for a load of 2022 repertoire (that's clean!) for your bucket drums? Look no further to keep all of your kids drumming throughout the year!

In this megapack, you will receive 8 custom arrangements of the most recent popular music from the leading artists at a 20% discount when bought all together here...

All music can be found on YouTube (or Amazon music, Apple Music, Pandora, etc) as the accompaniment tracks and played in the background.

You can preview the music in the store by browsing through the bucket drumming arrangements (most are designed for upper elementary, middle, and can easily be played by high schoolers)

Have a great time with this!

For notation:

• All regular notation is to be played on the buckets (or drums, or ground, however you wish),

• The X notation that is stacked with quarter notes are played as shots (think like a marching band snare drum -- playing the drum and stick simultaneously as a rimshot or on top of each other -- whatever will you get you the best accent!)

• The X notation (with a down stem) are played as stick clicks above their head (or you could apply it to a tambourine or other auxiliary instrument)

Connect math skills into music with MatheMusician! This 120 page Powerpoint (converted into PDF) tests your students on how well they know the durations of basic notation -- whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes. After a brief review, students will see a slide with note values added, subtracted, divided, or multiplied together. They have to use their previous knowledge of notation duration and connect the math together to figure out the answer. I use this in a tournament format with my class. We start off on the left side or right side of the the room and the first two kids stand up as you flash the slide on the projector. The student who gets the correct answer first gets to move onto the next child in the class while the other student sits. That student has to make their way through the entire class before being deemed champion... but they could be beat at ANY TIME! You can mix it up, left side, right side, boys/girls, etc. Kids get ultra competitive, especially in 5th grade. An alternate printout for students is available without the answer key, just in case you'd like to add it to their workbook. Two slides come on each page. Email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com with your request and I'll be happy to oblige! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. Get your brain in gear!

*** Accompaniment files INCLUDED! *** Have a steel drum/jumbie jam ensemble or just starting one? Give a look at these original compositions for steel drums in "Steel Drum Mania!" Included are 5 original songs all around 1.5-2 minutes long. The Steel drums are all unison (works great if you have 1 octave Jumbie Jams, which they were originally written for!) Each song has sheet music which can be taught by rote along with accompaniment mp3s of various tempi. 2 of the songs are beginner, 1 is intermediate, and the last one, quite advanced. All songs are written to reflect landmarks in Winter Springs, Florida, a suburb of Orlando. These can also be used for any C instrument, so if you dare venture onto an Orff instrument or Recorder, it'll work as well ;) Have a great time!

More on the hit list with your bucket drumming kids, we present Rachel Platten's hit song from 2015, "Fight Song"!

There are three all-color coded slides along with the form identifiers listed next to each phrase. Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated 2 or 4, times). Then, apply it to drums!

All regular notation is to be played on the buckets (or drums, or ground, however you wish), and the X notation (with a down stem) are played as stick clicks above their head (or you could apply it to a tambourine or other auxiliary instrument)

This one is quite advanced and may take a few lessons to get solidified. Repeated patterns of sixteenths and eights in this one, so you can work on alternating hands for your kids -- great lesson to teach steadiness of rhythm! :)

Also, a terrific piece to reinforce dynamics (piano in the verses and forte in the choruses!)

Here's the track so you can play along...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qDOGLCSFo

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Looking for more Bucket Drumming Resources? Check out the library below!

[Geometry Dash] DJVI, Back on Track - BUCKET DRUMMING!

[Geometry Dash] Stereo Madness, Forever Bound - BUCKET DRUMMING!

What Makes You Beautiful, One Direction - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Blank Space, Taylor Swift - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

*EARTH DAY!* Heal the World, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bad Day, Daniel Powter - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (mp3 included!) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Follow You (2021), Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sweet Child O' Mine, Guns n' Roses - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd - BUCKET DRUMMING!

22, Taylor Swift - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Sign, Ace of Base - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Leave Me Alone, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "Top Gun" - BUCKET DRUMMING!

A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Greatest Show, (from The Greatest Showman) - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Augie's Great Municipal Band, Star Wars Ep. I (John Williams) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Raiders March (Raiders of the Lost Ark, John Williams) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Motownphilly, Boyz II Men - BUCKET DRUMMING! (mp3 included!)

Save Your Tears, The Weeknd - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Tetris Theme (Trap Remix) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Coffin Dance Meme [Mp3 Included!] - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations - BUCKET DRUMMING!

WandaVision Ep. 3 Intro/Title Sequence - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Conga, Gloria Estefan - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Believer, Imagine Dragons - BEGINNING BUCKET DRUMMING!

Blinding Lights, The Weeknd - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Shut up and Dance with Me, Walk the Moon - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Mood, 24kGoldn (**CLEAN**) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Rolling in the Deep, Adele - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Black Pearl (from Pirates of the Caribbean) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Final Countdown, Europe - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "Ghostbusters" - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Circle of Life, Elton John (from "The Lion King") - BUCKET DRUMMING!

24k Magic, Bruno Mars (**CLEAN**) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "The Mandalorian" - BEGINNER BUCKET DRUMMING!

Girls just wanna have Fun, Cyndi Lauper - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Surfin' USA, Beach Boys - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Be True to your School, Beach Boys Cover - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We Will Rock You, Queen - CUSTOM BUCKET DRUMMING ARRANGEMENT!

Hotline Bling, Drake - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from "The Mandalorian" - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Levitating (**CLEAN**), Dua Lipa ft DaBaby - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Into to Unknown, Panic! at the Disco (from "Frozen II") - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sunflower, Post Malone/Swae-Lee (from Spiderman) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Penny Lane, The Beatles - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Up on the Housetop, Pentatonix (PTX) - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Last Christmas, WHAM - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

All I Want For Christmas is You, Mariah Carey - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Mariah Carey - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

Underneath the Tree, Kelly Clarkson - CHRISTMAS BUCKET DRUMMING!

You're the One That I Want, Grease - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from the Munsters - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Les Toreadors (from Carmen Suite), Bizet - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), The Proclaimers - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Heart Attack, Demi Lovato - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Wrecking Ball, Miley Cyrus - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We are Young, Fun ft. Janelle Monae - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We Go Together, Grease - BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Thunderer, John Philip Sousa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Break My Heart, Dua Lipa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Watermelon Sugar, Harry Styles - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Savage Love (CLEAN), Jason Derulo, ft. Jawsh 685 - BUCKET DRUMMING!

OK Not To Be OK, Marshmello ft. Demi Lovato - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Thriller, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Baby Shark, PINGFONG - SEMI-ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

This is Halloween, The Nightmare Before Christmas - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We're Not Gonna Take It, Twisted Sister - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Beat it, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Jump, Van Halen - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from Gravity Falls - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Light Calvary Overture, F. von Suppe - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Whitney Houston - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Party Rock Anthem (*CLEAN*) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Turn the Beat Around, Gloria Estefan - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bye Bye Bye *NSync - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away, Toy Story 4 - BUCKET DRUMMING

We Belong Together, Toy Story 3 - BUCKET DRUMMING!

It's the Hard Knock Life, Annie - BUCKET DRUMMING!

It's Gonna Be Me, *NSync - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Footloose, Kenny Loggins - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Celebration, Kool and the Gang - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Livin on a Prayer, Bon Jovi - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Don't Start Now, Dua Lipa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Gotta Feeling, Black Eyed Peas - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dynamite, BTS - BUCKET DRUMMING!

BANG! (Clean version), AJR - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Friend Like Me (Will Smith), Aladdin - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Prince Ali (Will Smith), Aladdin - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

YMCA, The Village People - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stereo Hearts, Gym Class Heroes - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Africa, Toto - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dance Monkey, Tones and I - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stronger, Kelly Clarkson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

U Can't Touch This, MC Hammer - BUCKET DRUMMING!

You're Welcome, Dwayne Johnson (MOANA) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Love Rock 'n Roll, Joan Jett - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Don't Stop Believin', Journey - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Remember Me (Ernesto De La Cruz), Coco - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Theme from Superman, John Williams - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Hey Soul Sister, Train - BUCKET DRUMMING!

When Can I See You Again, Owl City (Wreck it Ralph) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Pirates of the Caribbean (He's a Pirate) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Try Everything, Shakira (Zootopia) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Cantina Band, Star Wars - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Eye of the Tiger, Survivor (Rocky III) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

William Tell Overture, Rossini - SUPER ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

The Imperial March, Star Wars - BUCKET DRUMMING!

We're all in this Together, High School Musical - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Billie Jean, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stars and Stripes Forever, Sousa - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Stitches, Shawn Mendes - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Beautiful People, Ed Sheeran - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Brave, Sara Bareilles - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Roar, Katy Perry - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Kids in an Adult World, Hello Sister - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Best Day of My Life, American Authors - BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Want You Back, Jackson Five - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Centuries, Fall Out Boy - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Wizards in Winter, Trans Siberian Orchestra - BUCKET DRUMMING!

ME, Taylor Swift - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Good Time, Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepsen - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Firework, Katy Perry - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

If I Can't Have You, Shawn Mendes (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Never Really Over, Katy Perry - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Sucker, Jonas Brothers - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Girls Like You, Maroon 5 (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Havana, Camilla Cabello (CLEAN) - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Happy, Pharrell Williams - BUCKET DRUMMING!

This is Me, The Greatest Showman - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Party in the USA, Miley Cyrus - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bad Romance, Lady Gaga - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Treasure, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Gangnam Style, PSY - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Life is a Highway (2018), ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Grenade, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

I Knew You Were Trouble, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

How Far I'll Go, Moana - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Natural, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

High Hopes, Panic! at the Disco - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Smooth Criminal, Michael Jackson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Bad Blood, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Animals, Maroon 5 - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Radioactive, Imagine Dragons - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Dynamite, Taio Cruz - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Shake it Off, Taylor Swift - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Grenade, Bruno Mars - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Fight Song, Rachel Platten - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

ABC, Jackson Five - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Feel it Still, Portugal. The Man - ADVANCED BUCKET DRUMMING!

Thunder, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Can't Stop the Feeling, Justin Timberlake - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Believer, Imagine Dragons - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Uptown Funk (CLEAN), Mark Ronson - BUCKET DRUMMING!

Listening to Popular music isn’t just for enjoyment. It contains critical pieces of musical composition that makes it sound the way it does!

In "The Elements of Pop", students will be given 8 short examples of pop music (about 30-45 seconds long all mp3s included and embedded into the powerpoint) and will be see a multiple choice selection of elements that described the pop music being played

It's mostly broad terminology you teach in your music class: Rhythm, Tempo, Major/Minor, Instrumentation, Vocal ranges, etc!

This is great assessment to do as a class, individually, or even through distance learning! Have your cake and eat it too!

Pair this with the Identify Form in Popular Music series and you got yourself engaging lesson material!

Let us know how it is goes in the comments :)

Listening to Popular music isn’t just for enjoyment. It contains critical pieces of musical composition that makes it sound the way it does!

In "The Elements of Pop", students will be given 8 short examples of pop music (about 30-45 seconds long all mp3s included and embedded into the powerpoint) and will be see a multiple choice selection of elements that described the pop music being played

It's mostly broad terminology you teach in your music class: Rhythm, Tempo, Major/Minor, Instrumentation, Vocal ranges, etc!

This is great assessment to do as a class, individually, or even through distance learning! Have your cake and eat it too!

Pair this with the Identify Form in Popular Music series and you got yourself engaging lesson material!

Let us know how it is goes in the comments :)

Looking for a fun, exciting, challenging, and engaging way to reach students in your upper elementary or lower middle school grades? Try this all-inclusive lesson that will get your kids racing against the clock and each other with The Great Escape!

In “THE GREAT ESCAPE”, students will be given a specific amount of time to perform tasks successfully (as designed by the teacher). Each one of these tasks is a musical task and the theme for this escape room are rhythms.

There are five rooms, and in each room are several "tasks" students will have to perform (either individually, as a class, A vs B, side by side, or however you wish). As soon as the task is completed, advance the slide for the correct answer (the teacher will control the game).

After a certain number of tasks, a key will be issued to exit the room and head into another room with a different set of tasks.

The five rooms and tasks are as follows:

• Room One: The Library (Perform the Rhythm shown)
• Room Two: The Kitchen (Identify Rhythm)
• Room Three: The Den (Perform the Rhythm BACKWARDS)
• Room Four: The Boiler Room (Identify Rhythmic Value)
• Room Five: The Lobby (Perform Polyrhythms (1-4 groups of class split)
• Room Five: The Lobby (Diagonal Rhythms and Shapes)

If students complete all tasks and open the door to all five rooms they win the game!

You can play this one of four ways

• Set a timer (5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc). You can designate how long students should receive to complete the entire game
• Keep track of time to beat another class or grade level
• Keep track of time and try again during another class to name it faster
• Play it side vs side, boys vs girls, and see who can get to the end the fastest (or before time ends)

If you would like music to accompany this to make it a bit more engaging, try using this in the background:

Escape Room Background Music

Have a terrific time with this and let us know how it goes!

We're BACK and for 2021 in the follow-up to the #1 selling "Identify Form in Pop Music" series, we now bring you....

Part SEVEN!

Kids love their pop music, right? Want to integrate it into your classroom? This is great lesson to do with 4th and 5th graders that lets them listen to their favorite pop music (as always, kid friendly 100% CLEAN!) while learning about musical form!

The lesson begins with an introduction to popular music and how the music is formulated by the artists songwriters. We talk about the intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and outro, and include the collision and the channel and then go onto our activity.

I cut out cards... a whole bunch of intros, verses, chorus, bridges, outros, channels, and collisions (or you can do it with a whiteboard/marker, or even as a unison class response) and give them to each student, then have have the kids sit on the floor. I then play an mp3 of a song which has 10 second clips of each of the sections (there is about a 2 second gap in between each clip and all clips are safe for little ears -- no profanity!) and have the students identify them by spelling them out on the floor in front of them. This works great if you're putting kids into groups of 2 or 3 as they try to figure out the form of the song.

It's a great compromise to having your kids listen to their music and still satisfy a 4th and 5th grade standard in identifying the structure of music!

The 2021 hit list:

• Bang!, AJR
• Blinding Lights, The Weeknd
• Drivers License, Olivia Rodrigo
• Follow You, Imagine Dragons
• Kings & Queens, Ava Max
• Levitating, Dua Lipa
• Mood, 24kGoldn
• Save Your Tears, The Weeknd
• Selfish, Nick Jonas
• Watermelon Sugar, Harry Styles

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com

Have fun, kids LOVE this!

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All the previous versions can be found here:

Identify Form in Pop Music

Identify Form in Pop Music PART TWO

Identify Form in Pop Music PART THREE

Identify Form in Pop Music PART FOUR

Identify Form in Pop Music PART FIVE

Identify Form in Pop Music PART SIX

Getting your Bucket Drumming kids ready to go reading triplets can be easy with "Bucket Drumming in 3s with multiple levels of rhythms ready to challenge kids to work with alternating hands

In this resource you will receive 30 resources which scaffold up

1) Quarters, Triplets

2) Adding in Stick Clicks or Rim Clicks (The "X" notation)

3) Adding in Quarter Rests

4) Adding in consecutive triplets

5) Quarter note triplets

Looking for a background track to practice triplets? Think of none other than Semper Fidelis by JP Sousa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeD9Nk8-tY0

You can either

1. Warmup as a class together

2. Ask students to play it individually as a pass off

3. Print out a few for your kids and have them play one at random and make a cacophony of triplet drumming!

Need to connect with your kids with their pop music through general music? Involve them in bucket drumming with Motown the Musical: "Get Ready / Dancing in the Streets"

There are five all-color coded slides along with the form identifiers listed next to each phrase. Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated 3 or 4 times). Then, apply it to drums!

All regular notation is to be played on the buckets (or drums, or ground, however you wish), and the X notation (with a down stem) are played as stick clicks above their head (or you could apply it to a tambourine or other auxiliary instrument)

Here's the track so you can play along...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyn42moyN4M

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*** Looking for more BUCKET DRUMMING resources? *** Find them here!

Need to connect with your kids with your hits (and have your cake and eat it too?) Involve them in bucket drumming with the classic opening main theme from the 2022 smash movie "Top Gun: Maverick"!

There are two all-color coded slides along with the form identifiers listed next to each phrase. Discuss form with the students and teach them (by rote) the rhythms on the powerpoint with the corresponding repeats (most are repeated various times)

All regular notation is to be played on the buckets (or drums, or ground, however you wish), and the X notation (with a down stem) are played as stick clicks above their head (or you could apply it to a tambourine or other auxiliary instrument)

Here's the track so you can play along...

https://youtu.be/Dh0SPkqZFDs

Have fun with this and let us know how it goes!

Terms of Use:

All images/photos/clip art in this resource were created by me.
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*** Looking for more BUCKET DRUMMING resources? *** Find them here!