Ahern Middle School  |   Foxborough, MA:

  • Grades 5, 6, 7, 8;  ~200 students per grade
  • Band begins in 5th grade. ~120 participate. (most of the rest take Chorus / Orchestra)
  • Average no. of percussion students:
    • 5th grade: 6  | 6th grade: 11  |  7th grade: 9  |  8th grade: 7
  • All percussionists spend the first semester only on keyboard instruments
  • Our philosophy: every student who wants to be there has a place in the music program

Advantages to Starting with Keyboards

  • Students no longer “just hit things”
  • Still learning percussion fundamentals / technique
  • Full band rehearsals: more related to what wind players are doing, easier to teach and learn
  • We find no lack of drumming ability by the end of the first year, but there is a deeper understanding and connection to the rest of the ensemble ​

Percussion vs. Wind Instruments

  • Woodwind/Brass instruments:
    • Are held, you learn to feel each key. You don’t need to look at the instrument
    • Each pitch has a certain feeling and it’s own fingering combination
    • Music notation is physically close to your eyes
  • Keyboard Percussion:
    • Music is farther away. It's harder to see.
    • Need a larger field of vision
      • We have to learn how to look at the instrument, music stand, and conductor
    • Every note “feels” the same – a single stroke
    • The player is disconnected from the instrument.
      • Your air & lungs are not needed
      • You don’t feel vibrations
      • Ideally - the stick becomes an extension of the instrument (takes a very long time)
      • But - the stick is always the “middle-man” between the human and the sound source

What Makes Keyboard Percussion So Difficult?

  • Striking the bar in the correct spot. They are tiny. There is little room for error
  • The sound quality of the beginning instrument (bells) is low quality
    • Why would a student want to play something that can’t make a pleasing sound to their ears?
    • Advocate for the highest quality instruments; put percussionists on the same level as their wind counterparts
  • Reading / decoding notation
  • Reading notation AND playing simultaneously
  • Where to look (has to be taught/practiced more than other instruments)