In Pursuit

There is a lot going on in this very cool, suspenseful tune: body percussion, rhythm band instruments, thunder, rain, and more! However, there isn't any singing. So, that would make this a great non-singing option for your music class.

The body percussion uses patsches (slapping the thighs), clapping, and drumming with hands on a desk, chair, or stool. (We used stools in the studio.) If it would be easier, you could do stomps instead of the drumming. It may seem a bit complicated at first, but if you just follow the rhythm of the piece, it all makes sense.

The rhythm band side of things uses triangles, tambourines, and rhythm sticks. It's a bit easier to play, which means you have the ability to have a nice mix of rhythmically inclined and not so rhythmically inclined students all participate. As always, feel free to mix and match and add or subtract rhythm instruments as you see fit. You could even add a rainstick beginning at measure 35 to go along with the one on the performance and accompaniment tracks.

"In Pursuit" has a really exciting recorded track that is sure to capture the attention of your players. In addition to the rhythm section, strings, and Harmon-muted trumpet, you'll hear timpani, suspended cymbals, claves, shaker, an anvil, rainstick, and even a gong! As we often like to do, we are including a few online extras for this song. First, you'll find an MP3 of just the body percussion and rhythm band instruments. It's really interesting to hear it featured this way. It's something you might consider showcasing in a performance – having the tune demonstrated with just the percussion and then a full performance with the recorded accompaniment track (or the other way around, if you'd like). We are also providing PDFs of the score and student parts. In the magazine, to save pages, the form of the song includes several repeats. Because this may be a bit more difficult to follow, we have a through-composed (completely written out, no repeats) version available for download. We also created kids' parts that match the form in the magazine and that are also through-composed.