Rock The Cowbell

More cowbell! Clearly, that's the theme of this hard rockin' tune. And just to be sure you have plenty of opportunities for your young percussionists to join in, there are four, yes, four cowbell parts. The piece starts with them playing in unison right away, so players will need to listen to the set-up in the drums to know when to start.

At measure 10, the cowbells break into parts. You could use one cowbell per part, or two or more. Each has its own rhythm that, once it begins, remains the same going forward. To make it a "moment" for them as they each enter, we suggest having each of them hold their cowbells up high in the air. After their respective two bar entrances, they could either continue to keep them up or lower them until measure 18 when all of them are lowered as the singing resumes. A bit more up at the end helps with the final punctuation, as does the unison last measure.

If you prefer to make it more of a show, you certainly could. Have players truly exaggerate their movements, even shining a "spotlight" on each as they play. Add more patterns, change the ones we have, make them more flamboyant, let them ad lib, let them decorate their cowbells, etc. Take it to the level you think works best in your situation. In a performance setting, let them be rock stars and wear shades or bandannas or other iconic rock costumes or accessories.

Also during the soli section at measure 10, you will hear a super cool bass solo on the recording as played by our bassist, Steve Dokken. Add an "air bass" to your ensemble to "play along" for fun, too.

To allow for flexibility, you will find an extra accompaniment version of this tune that includes the cowbells (for reinforcement), but no vocals, on our web site.