Frontpage › Forums › General Music › Steelpan drum group
nafmeadmin.
nafmeadminI am in the process of purchasing some jumbie jam steel drums for a student ensemble that meets after school. What other instruments would I ideally use for such an ensemble? Conga drums, etc.? I haven’t seen any of the instructional/song books yet so I’m wondering if other instruments are included in these arrangements, but I also plan on doing some of my own arrangements.
nafmeadminHi Jennifer,
I am definitely not an expert on Pan groups but here is an excellent NAfME publication you might want to check out: The Steel Band Game Plan: Strategies for Starting, Building, and Maintaining Your Pan Program Published by MENC: The National Association for Music Education in Partnership with Rowman & Littlefield Education – Chris Tanner Presents a Guide for Successful Implementation and Development of a Steel Band Program.
Also, go to the web site of our state’s premiere HS Steel Drum Band, Mayfield (WI) HS. http://www.mayvillesteeldrums.com/ From there you can contact their director. Anything he can’t answer he will send you to another expert who can.
I hope this helps!
Christine Hayes – NAfME Council for General Music Education, Past-Chair
nafmeadminJennifer,
A student teacher in our district, a percussionist, says that steel drums usually play all by themselves. You can add big shakers. They also use big drums called surdos. If you can get something similar to that, it would be authentic. Good luck developing this interesting and creative ensemble!
Mary Anne Zupan
Retired K-5 Music Specialist
CGME Council
nafmeadminHello,
I have a steel drum band at my school, and I’ve been teaching pan for 15 years. You can add a number of instruments to the ensemble. Hand percussion tends to go most naturally, but you can even add rock band to a steel drum band! I am more than happy to answer any questions or share music! Welcome to the world of PAN!!! 🙂
nafmeadminHello-
I teach a percussion based curriculum in Chicago through the Noble Network of Charter Schools. I am a founding teacher at our school (Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy) I arrange everything for my band program. All warm-ups, etudes, and music from pop to R&B to Jazz and more. My classroom consists of steel pans, rhythm section (4 keyboards, bass, guitar, drums, auxiliary) as well as barrels, marimba, xylophone and an assortment of hand percussion. You can sample my work here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3tl87HLH6E
I’d be happy to discuss any questions/concerns you may have.
Doug Corella
Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy
Chicago, IL
Christopher M. Johnson, Professor of Music Education and Music Therapy, is currently the Chair of the Music Education and Music Therapy Department and Director of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. Johnson earned his Ph.D. from the Florida State University.
Since his arrival at The University of Kansas, Johnson has taught courses in Instrumental Conducting, Teaching Instrumental Music, Managing Behaviors in the Music Environment, Psychology and Acoustics of Music, and Research Methods in Music Education and Music Therapy. Johnson served two terms as the editor of the International Journal of Music Education: Research, the research publication of the International Society for Music Education. He is currently serving his second term on the National Association for Music Educations Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. He also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Research in Music Education, and one earlier term as the Chair for the MENC Executive Committee of the Society for Research in Music Education. Johnson also served as the Chair for the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education.
Johnson’s research interests include applied research in music education, and basic research in all aspects of the psychology of music. He has published articles in many journals including the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Music Education, the Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Band Research, Contributions to Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, among others. Johnson has also been an active member and contributor to the Research Seminar of the International Society for Music Education and World Alliance for Arts Education.
Johnson received a university teaching award – the Ned N. Fleming Award for Excellence in Teaching and received the recognition for Graduate Teaching Achievement from the Center for Teaching Excellence. Johnson was also awarded a lecturing & research award as a J. William Fulbright Scholar and recently received the Ella Scoble Opperman Citation for Distinguished Achievement from the Florida State University College of Music.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.