Composing in a Kuku or Warabadon style
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can create a drumming composition in the style of Kuku or Warabadon.
Key learning points
- Composing a rhythmic piece in the style of either Kuku (in 4/4) or Warabadon (in 12/8).
- A successful Kuku or Warabadon structure includes a call, break, échauffement and solo sections.
- Composing and performing two contrasting ostinato patterns as the basis of our piece.
- Developing these within the structure, creating a polyrhythmic section with an improvised solo.
Keywords
Ostinato - a repeated pattern
Structure - the different sections of a piece of music and how the piece is organised
4/4 - a time signature with four beats in a bar
12/8 - a time signature with twelve quavers in a bar; these are in four groups of three
Common misconception
Composing a rhyhtm means creating something totally original
Successful compositions often take some ideas from other pieces and do something new with it, so adapting rhythms from the drumming pieces you have already played is acceptable and can help in finding the right type of rhythms and the right style.
Teacher tip
If pupils need support creating their own ideas they can adapt the djembe 1 part for either Kuku or Warabadon. They could also write additional parts or revise parts from one of the existing pieces.
Equipment
Djembe and dunduns can be replaced with bass, mid and treble versions of any untuned percussion. You can also use cupped hands (bass), palm clap (tone) and full clap (slap) as an alternative.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What are the three sounds of a djembe drum?
Q2.What is the term for creating music on the spot?
Q3.In compound time, a beat is divided into groups of rather than groups of two or four.
Q4.What word defines a continually repeated musical idea or rhythm?
Q5.A short phrase to break up the main rhythms is called a
Q6.A featured part of a composition played by one person is a
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is an ostinato?
Q2.Kuku is in 4/4 time and Warabadon is in time
Q3.The arrangement and ordering of sections within a piece of music is called the
Q4.What type of notation is a visual form of representing rhythm and pitch?
Q5.Which sections would we hear in a traditional Africa drumming structure?
Q6.Playing 2 or more different rhythms at once creates a
To help you plan your 8 music lesson on: Composing in a Kuku or Warabadon style, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 music lesson on: Composing in a Kuku or Warabadon style, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 music lessons from the Djembe drumming and rhythms from the regions of West Africa unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.