Body percussion
Encyclopedia
Body percussion may be performed on its own or as an accompaniment to song. The folk traditions of many countries include the use of body percussion. Examples of these include Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n saman, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

n armpit music, palmas in flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

, and the hambone
Juba dance
The Juba dance or hambone, originally known as Pattin' Juba , is a style of dance that involves stomping as well as slapping and patting the arms, legs, chest, and cheeks. "Pattin' Juba" would be used to keep time for other dances during a walkaround...

 from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Body percussion sounds

Percussion instruments produce their sound when a player hits, scrapes, rubs or shakes them to produce vibrations. These techniques can also be applied to the human body. The body also presents several unique possibilities including the use of inhaled or exhaled air and vocal sounds.

Traditionally the four main body percussion sounds (in order from lowest pitch to highest in pitch) are:
  1. Stomp: Stamping the feet against the floor or a resonant surface.
  2. Patsch: patting either the left, right or both thighs with hands
  3. Clapping
    Clapping
    A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance...

     hands together
  4. Click
    Snap (fingers)
    Snapping one's fingers is the act of creating a cracking/clicking sound with one's fingers. Primarily this is done by building tension between the thumb and another finger and then moving the other finger forcefully downward so it hits the palm of the same hand at a high speed...

    / snapping: clicking with the thumb and middle fingers


However, there are numerous other possibilities include: hitting the chest, whistling, slapping or flicking the cheeks with an open mouth, clicking with the tongue against the roof of the mouth, grunting and hitting the buttocks.

Variations of sound are possible through changing the playing technique. For example, clapping the hands in various positions will affect factors such as pitch and resonance.

Music education

Body percussion is used extensively in music education, because of its accessibility—the human body is the original musical instrument and the only instrument that every student possesses. Using the body in this manner gives students a direct experience of musical elements, such as beat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...

, rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...

, and metre
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...

 and helps a student internalise rhythmic skills. Certain approaches to music education, including Orff
Orff
Orff can refer to:*Carl Orff, a German composer, known for his teaching method, the Orff Schulwerk.**Orff Schulwerk encompasses the Orff instruments and teaching methods for children....

 and Kodaly make particular use of body percussion.

Performers

Body percussion may be performed solo or several performers may combine to create an musical ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

. One of the most accomplished body percussion soloists is Keith Terry. Terry resides in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and in the 1980s he established Cross Pulse, a non-profit organization dedicated to the creation, performance and recording of rhythm-based, intercultural music and dance. Perhaps the most famous body percussion ensemble is the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 percussion group Stomp
Stomp (dance troupe)
Stomp is a percussion group that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance.-History and performances:...

. Stomp perform in a musical genre known as trash percussion, which involves the use of non-traditional instruments combined with body percussion. In Brazil, the most well-known body percussion group is Barbatuques.

The International Body Music Festival (IBMF) is a project of Crosspulse and was founded by Artistic Director and Body Musician Keith Terry. The previous editions of the IBMF ( 2008 and 2009 ) took place in San Francisco and Oakland, California. Before coming to Brasil, the IBMF offered a presentation at the Linconl Center with the participation of Barbatuques in New York in August 2010.

The Secretaria Municipal de Cultura de São Paulo along with the support of the American Consulate, presents the 3rd International Body Music Festival, which will be held in São Paulo, from 16th to the 21st of November 2010, including presentations and workshops with BodyMusic Artists. The IBMF, with its first presentation out of the USA, will be offering activities in the following spaces: Galeria Olido, Centro Cultural São Paulo, Teatro Cacilda Becker, Centro Cultural da Juventude, Espaço 10X21, Raies and Centro Cultural Rio Verde.

The IBMF was created by Keith Terry, American musician and body music researcher around the world, and the 3rd IBMF edition happens in partnership with Barbatuques, a Brazilian group well-known internationally as reference due to their works and researches on Body Music. The IBMF 2010 Brasil was directed by Fernando Barba and brought 11 international attractions: Slammin All_Body Band ( USA, com Keith Terry, IBMF creator ), KekeÇa ( Turkey ), Kenny Muhammad ( USA ), Tekeyé ( Colombia ), LeeLa Petronio ( France ), Max Pollak ( Áustria ), Sandy Silva ( Canada ), Step Afrika! ( USA ), Jep Meléndez ( Spain ), B.A.S.E. – Bay Area Sonic Ensemble ( USA ), Steven Harper ( USA – Brasil ), Las Flamencas ( Spain ), and also a special presentation of Barbatuques with the participation of Stênio Mendes and the Body Orchestra.

A photo exhibition is also taking part of the programmation for the IBMF in São Paulo, where people will be able to appreciate the photographs of “Mike Melnyk”, American photographer who registered the first two editions of the IBMF.

From: http://www.br.internationalbodymusicfestival.com/2010

Print sources

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: “Percusión corporal en diferentes culturas”. (Body percussion in different cultures)
Música y Educación: Revista trimestral de pedagogía musical. Año XXI, 4 – Núm.
76 - Diciembre 2008. SPAIN, Madrid, pp. 46 – 97.
ISSN: 0214-4786.
http://www.musicalis.es/revista/articulos/76.htm

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: “Body music! Body percussion!
Didáctica de la percusión corporal“.
Música y educación: Revista trimestral de pedagogía musical,
Año nº 19, Nº 68, 2006, SPAIN, Madrid, pp. 49–88.
ISSN 0214-4786.
http://www.musicalis.es/revista/articulos/68.htm

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: "Bodymusic-Bodypercussion. Ritmos de rock, funky, reage y samba con percusión corporal y su aplicación didáctica".
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Instituto Superior de Formación y Recursos en Red para el profesorado. SPAIN, Madrid, pp. 121 – 138.
ISBN 978-84-369-4571-3.

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: "Percusión Corporal e Inteligencias múltiples". (Body percussion and Multiple Intelligences)
VII Jornades de Música.
Universidad de Barcelona. Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament d'Educació, 2008. SPAIN, Barcelona, pp. 21 – 38.
ISBN 978-84-96907-04-1.

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: “Bodymusic – Bodypercussion.
Propuestas didácticas sobre psicomotricidad rítmica”
.
Música y Educación: Revista trimestral de pedagogía musical. Año XVII, 4 – Núm.
60 - Diciembre 2004. SPAIN, Madrid, 2004.
ISSN: 0214-4786.
http://www.musicalis.es/revista/articulos/60.htm

ROMERO NARANJO, Francisco Javier: „Propuestas didácticas en base a los
sistemas Bodypercussion y TA KE TI NA“
. Música y Educación: Revista trimestral de pedagogía musical.
Año XIV, 3 – Núm. 47 – Octubre 2001. SPAIN, Madrid. pp. 37 – 50.
ISSN: 0214-4786.
http://www.musicalis.es/revista/articulos/47.htm

External links

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