Lesson: Body Percussion

Posted September 23, 2020byOllie Tunmer

Body Percussion with Ollie Tunmer

Do your online or in person socially distanced lessons need a little spicing up? Ollie Tunmer of Beat Goes On has some fun ideas using body percussion (no sharing!) that can be used for virtual or in person learning. Ollie does not stick to the usual, pat, clap stamp and snap, he draws on his experience performing with STOMP to explore body percussion in ways you and your students may not have tried before! He begins with some fun warm ups and rhythm echoes. Then he shares an energetic lesson where the children can help you learn their names and tell you a bit about themselves. If you enjoy this lesson and are looking for more, check out his YouTube channel, and his new book Body Beats.

Ollie Tunmer

Ollie is the founder and Director of Beat Goes On. He is a former cast member of the hit show STOMP and its sister show, ‘The Lost & Found Orchestra’. He is also a qualified secondary music teacher and combines these experiences to deliver fun, engaging and memorable workshops which draw on participants’ own ideas, as well as developing skills and knowledge. Ollie also promotes the use of music as a means of encouraging well-being, for both individuals and teaching communities.

See all posts by Ollie Tunmer

14 Comments

Anna Hogan on September 24, 2020 at 8:15 am

Wonderful lesson! I will use this with my 3rd grade students in Minnesota! Thanks so much!

Reply
- Ollie on September 28, 2020 at 5:45 am
  
  My pleasure! For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk 🙂
  
  Reply
Stacy Deaton on September 24, 2020 at 8:21 am

Relatively new elementary music teacher here. I am SO grateful for this quality and instructional video that is also tons of fun! The kids will love this! Thank you, Ollie, and everyone at Orff for everything you help us teachers with! I miss our Orff instruments, as do our Pre-K through 3rd graders. They will get a kick out of these body percussion ideas! What a blessing!

Reply
- Ollie on September 28, 2020 at 5:45 am
  
  My pleasure! For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk 🙂
  
  Reply
Dianne M Syal on September 24, 2020 at 10:32 am

Just getting back into teaching. This is wonderful reminder what to do, since I have little to no music equipment.

Reply
- Ollie on September 28, 2020 at 5:45 am
  
  My pleasure! For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk 🙂
  
  Reply
Dirk Andrews on September 24, 2020 at 10:48 pm

So fun! I love the novel body percussion, especially the mouth. Not that easy to execute, so thank you for breaking it down.

Reply
- Ollie on September 28, 2020 at 5:46 am
  
  My pleasure! For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk 🙂
  
  Reply
Stephanie Shaner on September 25, 2020 at 2:14 pm

His book is wonderful, too. It comes with a code to view videos of some nice rhythm basics. Each page includes the lesson, plus lots of resources and references. Loved him at the Modern Band Summit (Little Kids Rock) virtual symposium. He woke us up!

Reply
- Ollie on September 28, 2020 at 5:46 am
  
  Many thanks! For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk 🙂
  
  Reply
Shari Fettig on October 1, 2020 at 3:52 pm

BRILLIANT! I’ve thought of ways to adapt the “Stomp, Clap the Rhythm” lesson for my Gr2 students. Thank you for providing movement lessons that I can do in the limited space in their regular classrooms. I can’t wait until this COVID season passes so that we can get back in our Music room and transfer these rhythms to drums and other percussion instruments! My students love watching a video of a STOMP performance each year. Thank you for using your experience with STOMP to help music educators!

Reply
- Ollie on October 2, 2020 at 7:27 am
  
  Hi Shari,
  
  I’m really glad to hear it’s been useful.
  
  For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk
  
  Reply
Kate Marshall on October 16, 2020 at 9:22 am

So inspiring. I’ve just taken on extra classes as one of my Music Service colleagues shields. Their classes were percussion and with trying to avoid using instruments, this is a brilliant way of covering so much, and I can see how it can lead to notation – both graphic and western standard.

Reply
- Ollie on December 14, 2020 at 3:42 am
  
  Hi Kate,
  
  Thanks so much for the kind words. I’m really glad that you find this useful.
  
  For any further enquiries re online workshops, PD and my body percussion book ‘Body Beats’, please visit http://www.beatgoeson.co.uk
  
  Reply