INTRODUCTION

Progressive Percussion Method for Young Beginners has been designed to introduce the younger student to the basics of percussion playing and reading music.

To maximize the student’s enjoyment and interest, the book incorporates a repertoire of well known children’s songs along with some of the rhythms, sounds and beats which attract people to percussion playing. All of the songs have been carefully graded into an easy to follow, lesson by lesson format which assumes no prior knowledge of music or any percussion instruments by the student.

Since percussion playing is usually a group activity, this book may be used in conjunction with other Progressive Young Beginner books (e.g., Keyboard, Guitar, Recorder) as many of the songs included here are common to these other books.

In the course of the book, the student is introduced to the basics of playing rhythm sticks, bongo drums and the triangle in various combinations from solo up to a quartet, as well as learning note and rest values and the * and ^ time signatures. The final lesson is a basic introduction to the drumkit for those students who wish to move on to playing drums.

The exercises and songs incorporate quarter, whole and half notes and their equivalent rests, as well as eighth notes. The student is taught how to read rhythms, and introduced to basic terms such as bar lines, repeat signs and lead-in notes. New pieces of information are highlighted by color boxes, and color illustrations are used throughout to stimulate and maintain the student’s interest.