Pat-A-Pan

This body percussion tune is challenging, but fun! Upon hearing the recording for "Pat-A-Pan" you might be thinking, "That's way cool! But how are my kiddos gonna be able to perform this?"

"I may have made it a bit too difficult," said writer/producer John Riggio as he reflected on putting his adaptation of "Pat-A-Pan" together. He started out not wanting the tune to be too easy, and making the body percussion part exciting so it's more fun for the kids. And perhaps you and your students think it's fabulous just as it is. But if it's a little daunting for your particular needs, fear not, intrepid music teacher. We've got you covered! We recorded this at two different tempos to make it easier (120 bpm and 100 bpm). You could start with the slow version and work your way up to the fast version. Should the slower tempo still be too difficult, you can always adapt your own body percussion part to the song. Alternately, you could simplify it by taking four measures and repeating them for the length of the song, for instance, measures 5 through 8, or 17 through 20. If you use this option, start your pattern in bar 5.

We have several extras for you to use to practice and/or perform this exhilarating piece. This includes a couple of versions with just the body percussion so kids can hear how very cool it is as they work with it. In a nutshell, here is what you will find at our web site: full version (slow), accompaniment version (slow), body percussion only (slow), body percussion only (fast), and a PDF of the body percussion part.

All this being said, your students may truly relish the challenge of performing this as written and up to tempo. If that's you, we salute you, and please send video!