MASD welcomes bucket drumming
Cutline Katie Howard and Labrina Ritchey have implemented “bucket drumming” into their curriculum for Middle School Chorus and Middle and High School Band. Current COVID-19 restrictions have significantly impacted these programs, as students have not been able to play or sing. Howard learned of the program and the pair began to research how they could implement bucket drumming with MASD students, including Lauren Kretchman and Maddie Faner.
“Bucket drumming has allowed our students to make music in an ensemble. We began handing out the ‘instruments’ or buckets in early February and we now have roughly 130 distributed,” Howard explained. “Students were given their own bucket and sticks and were encouraged to take them home to personalize and decorate. These are theirs to own, but they will use them during our rehearsals even into next year and beyond,” she added.
Ritchey and Howard said the students enthusiastically embraced the concept and their enthusiasm only increased as they began to engage in virtual lessons on this unique performance art found at bucketdrumming.net.
Bucketdrumming.net was founded by Sammy Foster. Foster began his career with this “instrument” at age 11 and he quickly fell in love with the art. He began sharing this passion as a professional drummer and educator. Foster realized the accessibility of bucket drumming and the rhythmic benefits was the perfect avenue for students of all ages.
This accessibility made this an easy choice for Howard and Ritchey, who recognized the great benefits in this unique program. Another benefit was the cost, the cost is minimal as buckets were purchased from a home improvement store. “We are so happy to be able to give our students a chance to make music and have hands-on experiences,” Ritchey said. Both instructors said the students quickly discovered how much fun bucket drumming can be and found instant gratification in how quickly they are able to successfully “make music.”