Bucket drumming for kids: how to start

Bucket drumming is drumming on a plastic bucket turned upside down. It needs a bucket, a pair of sticks, and a floor. This page covers the gear, the setup, three sounds, and five beats to learn first.

What you need

Item	What to look for
A bucket	A plastic bucket of about 5 gallons (19 liters), clean and dry, with no cracks
Sticks	A pair of wooden drumsticks. Size 7A is thinner and lighter than the common 5A, and it suits small hands
A seat	A low stool, a chair, or a cushion on the floor
Ear protection	Earmuffs or earplugs for the player

Use a bucket that held food or nothing at all. Do not use one that held paint, cleaning fluid, or pool chemicals. Check the sticks for splinters before each session.

A bucket is loud in a small room. Read ear protection for kids.

How to set up

1. Turn the bucket upside down, with the open end on the floor. A rug under it stops it from sliding.
2. Sit behind it with a foot on each side.
3. Slide the toe of one shoe under the rim to lift one side off the floor. The gap lets the low sound out.
4. Hold a stick in each hand. Grip each one between the thumb and the first finger, a third of the way up from the thick end. Wrap the other fingers around it without squeezing.
5. Let the stick bounce. A stick pressed into the bucket chokes the sound.

Three sounds

Short name	Where to hit	What it sounds like
Boom	The middle of the bucket’s base	A deep, low sound
Tap	The edge of the base, near the rim	A sharper, higher sound
Click	The rim or the side of the bucket, with the middle of the stick	A dry click

Two more sounds are free: click the sticks together, or tap the floor.

Five first beats

Count “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and” out loud at a walking pace. Play one row at a time, and repeat it until it is steady.

Count	1	and	2	and	3	and	4	and
Beat 1: the pulse	Boom		Boom		Boom		Boom
Beat 2: boom and click	Boom		Click		Boom		Click
Beat 3: the double boom	Boom		Click		Boom	Boom	Click
Beat 4: running taps	Tap	Tap	Tap	Tap	Tap	Tap	Tap	Tap
Beat 5: boom, tap-tap	Boom		Tap	Tap	Boom		Tap	Tap

Use the stronger hand for the booms and the other hand for the clicks. For running taps, take turns: right, left, right, left.

A sound that fills a whole count is a quarter note. Two sounds that share a count are eighth notes. Read rhythm names explained for parents and note values explained.

The metronome for kids keeps the count even. Start at a slow speed.

Play along with music

Start with the pulse. Add the click when the pulse is steady.

• Radetzky March, by Johann Strauss Sr. A steady march for beat 1 and beat 2.
• “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, by Grieg. The music gets faster. Keep the pulse with it. This one tests the ears.
• Boléro, by Ravel. A snare drum repeats one rhythm through the whole piece. Tap the pulse under it.

Games

Echo. The leader plays four counts. The player plays them back.

Question and answer. The leader plays four counts. The player answers with four counts of their own.

Loud and soft. Play the pulse loud for eight counts and soft for eight counts. Then grow from soft to loud over eight counts. The word for that is crescendo. Read dynamics in music.

Pass the solo. In a group, everyone plays beat 2 four times. Then one player makes up eight counts while the rest tap the pulse on the rim. Go around the ring.

Layers. Split into three groups. One plays the pulse, one plays boom and click, and one plays running taps. Bring in one group at a time.

Where it comes from

Street drummers in cities such as New York and Chicago have played on plastic buckets for decades. Some youth music programs start young children on buckets too. Read El Sistema explained for parents.

From a bucket to a drum kit

Beat 2 is the first beat on a drum kit with one part left out. On a kit, the boom moves to the bass drum, and the click moves to the snare drum. A cymbal called the hi-hat adds the running taps on top. Read the drum kit for kids and the snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals for kids.

Print and play

Print the rhythm cards and play each card on the bucket. For patterns with no sticks, read body percussion for kids. For more to hit and shake, read homemade instruments for kids and rhythm games for kids.