Drums+Around+the+World

CITATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

• Title: Drums Around the World... • Author: Marc Jacoby • Publisher: The Music Interactive • Copyright Date: None given • Platform: Macintosh or Windows • Peripherals: mouse, headphones, speakers, active board, projector • Grade/Age: Early Elementary, Late Elementary, Middle School • Type of Class: General Music, History

TEACHER SUPPORT

This program does not offer any teacher support. It is a free download from [|www.themusicinteractive.com]. Objectives: The objective of this program is to show students a limited number of percussion instruments and their sounds from around the world. Lesson plans: There are no lesson plans provided.

INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT

This program shows pictures of and sounds of percussion from North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. The beginning screen allows you to click on the region that you would like to demonstrate. Each region has two to three different instruments. The sound clips demonstrate the instruments in their full capacity.

National Music Standards that could be addressed through this software:
 * 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
 * 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND PEDAGOGICAL SOUNDNESS

This is a very simple program that does not require a lot of time to complete. The opening page offers clickable regions. When you click on a region, two or three percussion instruments show up. Some graphics are pictures, some are clip art. When you click on the play button graphic, a music clip, some lasting longer than thirty seconds is played. This cannot be a student led activity unless the teacher has already instructed the students in the specific percussion instruments or is using it as an exploratory exercise. The teacher would have to make a lesson around the program in order for the program to hold any educational value. The music clips, however, are of very high quality and truly show the range and ability of each instrument presented.

This program can only be sequential, have a good pace of instruction, have quality interaction and be motivation for students if the instructor creates a quality and exciting lesson around this software.

RECORD KEEPING Not applicable

OVERALL EVALUATION This is a very simple program that can be used in teacher-led instruction on percussion instruments around the world. It is a free download. The best feature of this program is its sound clips.

Rating **

Reviewed by Rebecca Bain 06/15/2011