Brian Melick: Resume|Ed.Prog|Press

Workshops: Introduction to the World of Percussion and Rhythm

Curriculum Objectives:
• To develop participants' ability to interpret music and sound by ear
• To enhance participants' ability to communicate non-verbally
• To expose participants to many different instruments and the sounds they make
• To teach the steps associated with the development of percussion
• To emphasize an appreciation of the environment
• To learn creative ways to reuse obsolete objects

Program Description:
The emphasis of this program is exposing individuals to a multi-cultured experience by introducing percussion instruments from around the world.

Participants will learn about the evolution of percussion:
• man's first rhythm instruments — his hands and his feet;
• adding natural elements from the earth's floor — rocks and sticks;
• bringing into focus the use of plant life and animal parts — seed pods and toe rattles;
• working up to implied tonal and membrane instruments — thumb pianos and drums; and
• incorporating found objects such as auto parts and household wares.

Throughout the presentation, I make it a point of observing the environment around us, calling attention to awareness of the rhythm and sounds that all things create, including ourselves. Understanding percussion and rhythm and the impact it has on our emotions becomes more evident when people become physically involved. The biggest opportunity offered within this program is a group improvisation based on a simple rhythm that incorporates many of the instruments presented. Size of the group involved in this drum circle will be determined when the program is scheduled; for a large assembly program, the demonstration group will use instruments and the larger audience will be called upon to clap their hands and stomp their feet to create the firm pulse necessary to play a steady rhythm. The importance of this exercise is to hear and feel the way in which each instrument interacts and supports each other.

Additional materials provided to instructors for classroom use:
• Detailed outline of presentation
• Charts outlining percussion instrument families (membranophones/idiophones)
• World map showing geographic distribution of world instruments
• Match the instrument picture to its name
• Multiple choice pre- or post-quiz
• Lesson-reinforcing games: Crossword puzzle, Connect-the-dots, and Word Search
Capacity:
• 50–75 people as a fully participatory program (60 minutes), or
• full assembly program with 16–20 participants demonstrating concepts on stage (45-60 minutes)
Recommended Ages: 3 and up
Background:

Brian Melick, drummer and multi-hand percussionist, has taught workshops and masterclasses throughout the Northeast and Canada. He has been a featured facilitator at Music Therapists International Conferences and Percussive Arts Society's International Conventions, and serves on the World Percussive Committee for the Percussive Arts Society. He has taught people of all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, whose musical education ranged from none to years of study. Much-demanded, highly participatory workshops include Introduction to the World of Percussion and Rhythm, The World of Udu Drums, and Making and Playing Percussion Instruments out of Found Objects. Educators have used Brian's workshops as illustrations in such diverse fields as physics, social studies, art, history, environmentalism and religion, as well as music. Creating music from found objects reinforces curricula about recycling, stressing the interconnectedness of the natural and man-made worlds. The importance of percussion as a vehicle to express man's spiritual beliefs emerges through exploration of the Nigerian Udu Drums.
Read review and comments...
For more information on workshop and fee schedule, please contact Mrs. Martha Stamm, Educational Program Coordinator, by email at marthastamm@verizon.net.

Playing with Percussion: a 15 Week Course on Making and Playing Percussion Instruments Out of Found Objects.

Workshops: The World of Udu Drums

Curriculum Objectives:
• To develop participants' ability to interpret music and sound by ear
• To enhance participants' ability to communicate non-verbally
• To emphasize an appreciation of the environment
• To develop an understanding of air flow, resonance and tone
• To expose participants to concept of creating art from utilitarian object

Program Description:
The emphasis of this program is to expose participants to the cultural exchange that has take place in the twentieth century between Nigerian master potter, Abbas M. Ahuwan, and American clay sculptor, Frank Giorgini. The Udu drum, a traditional Nigerian side-hole pot drum, is an instrument of the finest quality, capable of creating beautiful sounds in the hands of both trained musicians and the novice. It is similar in tone to the African talking drum, yet has a quality of sound that no skin-covered drum can attain. Participants will gain a view of Nigerian culture and the importance of the Udu drum with it.
Participants will learn several basic playing techniques, culminating in a group improvisation based on a simple rhythm.
Slide show available to accompany presentation.

Additional materials provided to instructors for classroom use:
• Detailed outline of presentation
• Charts outlining percussion instrument families (membranophones/idiophones)
• Multiple choice pre- or post-quiz
Capacity:
• 12 people as a fully participatory program (60 minutes), or
• full assembly program with 12 participants demonstrating concepts on stage (45-60 minutes)
Recommended Ages: 5 and up

Background:
Brian Melick, drummer and multi-hand percussionist, has taught workshops and masterclasses throughout the Northeast and Canada. He has been a featured facilitator at Music Therapists International Conferences and Percussive Arts Society's International Conventions, and serves on the World Percussive Committee for the Percussive Arts Society. He has taught people of all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, whose musical education ranged from none to years of study. Much-demanded, highly participatory workshops include Introduction to the World of Percussion and Rhythm, The World of Udu Drums, and Making and Playing Percussion Instruments out of Found Objects. Educators have used Brian's workshops as illustrations in such diverse fields as physics, social studies, art, history, environmentalism and religion, as well as music. Creating music from found objects reinforces curricula about recycling, stressing the interconnectedness of the natural and man-made worlds. The importance of percussion as a vehicle to express man's spiritual beliefs emerges through exploration of the Nigerian Udu Drums.

For more information on workshop and fee schedule, please contact Mrs. Martha Stamm, Educational Program Coordinator, by email at marthastamm@verizon.net.

Workshops: Making and Playing Percussion Instruments out of Found Objects

Curriculum Objectives:
• To develop participants' ability to interpret music and sound by ear
• To enhance participants' ability to communicate non-verbally
• To expose participants to many different instruments and the sounds they make
• To teach the steps associated with the development of percussion
• To emphasize an appreciation of the environment
• To learn creative ways to reuse obsolete objects

Program Description:
Participants will create and learn to play a variety of percussion instruments out of found objects. They will experience the qualities of color, tone and texture that percussion instruments create and explore the reason they create such different sounds.
The family of percussion instruments, although formally divided into two groups (idiophones and membranophones), can be informally divided into four groups for a more basic understanding of percussion. Anything that can be rubbed, scraped, shaken or struck to create a pulse creates percussion. Brian will briefly discuss types of sound, helping the students to see, hear and feel the color, tone and texture of percussion instruments. Following this introduction, the students will begin making four different instruments: sandpaper blocks, picnic plate drums with mallets, sum pump guiro with sticks, and either film canister or plate shakers. Each of these represents one of the four basic groups of percussion.
After they finish making the instruments, the students will practice some basic techniques. All will learn rudimentary short and long strokes, the guiro players will learn Brazilian and Cuban techniques, and the ensemble will play together as a drum circle.
Throughout the program, Brian will remind the participants to pay close attention to their own environments, so that they will learn to listen for all the different rhythms and percussive sounds around them. For example, one person might hear rhythm and percussion in a gas pump, another in the turn signal of a car, and a third in the sound of a jackhammer.

Additional materials provided to instructors for classroom use:
• Detailed outline of presentation
• Charts outlining percussion instrument families (membranophones/idiophones)
• World map showing geographic distribution of world instruments
• Multiple choice pre- or post-quiz
• Lesson-reinforcing games: Crossword puzzle and Connect-the-dots
Capacity:
• 16–20 people as a fully participatory program (60 minutes), or
• full assembly program with demonstration for larger audience (45-60 minutes)
Recommended Ages: 3 and up

Background:
Brian Melick, drummer and multi-hand percussionist, has taught workshops and masterclasses throughout the Northeast and Canada. He has been a featured facilitator at Music Therapists International Conferences and Percussive Arts Society's International Conventions, and serves on the World Percussive Committee for the Percussive Arts Society. He has taught people of all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, whose musical education ranged from none to years of study. Much-demanded, highly participatory workshops include Introduction to the World of Percussion and Rhythm, The World of Udu Drums, and Making and Playing Percussion Instruments out of Found Objects. Educators have used Brian's workshops as illustrations in such diverse fields as physics, social studies, art, history, environmentalism and religion, as well as music. Creating music from found objects reinforces curricula about recycling, stressing the interconnectedness of the natural and man-made worlds. The importance of percussion as a vehicle to express man's spiritual beliefs emerges through exploration of the Nigerian Udu Drums.
Read reviews and comments...

For more information on workshop and fee schedule, please contact Mrs. Martha Stamm, Educational Program Coordinator, by email at marthastamm@verizon.net

ON INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF PERCUSSION AND RHYTHM
The two programs that you facilitated here [at the Troy Public Library] were wonderful.
It was amazing how you were able to capture the preschoolers and toddlers attention and then, even more amazing how you kept them captivated. That's not an easy task with such young children but you appeared to do it quite naturally, with ease.
The school age kids had a ball! … [T]here was a huge amount of focus and concentration put forth. I think every single person in the room forgot there was anybody else in the room at least once. What surprised me was that the parents had that same intense experience.
Your ability to work a room, giving each and every person individual attention which keeping everybody in the room completely engrossed is a gift.
Kim French Kniele, Head of Young People's Services
Troy Public Library, Troy, New York

Thank you so very much for the wonderful performance you provided … at the Bethlehem Public Library's Summer Reading Club "Blast Off" event. Your … workshop was both entertaining and informative.
… [E]very child present was given the chance to play at least three different percussion instruments during the program that invited full participation. Your collection of instruments was incredible, and your interactive presentation was lively and kept the children interested … It is no wonder that the children (and the adults present) really seemed to enjoy this evening with you!
I highly recommend your program, and hope we can arrange … workshops in the future at BPL. Again, I wish to express our sincere thanks to you for a memorable event.
Lucinda Robertson, Librarian, Youth Services Dept.
Bethlehem Public Library, Delmar, New York

ON MAKING AND PLAYING PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS OUT OF FOUND OBJECTS
This is to congratulate you on the very successful music workshop that you conducted this past summer as part of GCCA's SPROUTS fine arts program for three to seven year olds
Thank you very much for agreeing to make the creative effort to tailor your skills and ideas to permit very young children to participate. As you know, I was interested in exploring ways to achieve a more immediate, hands-on kind of music making for the little children in our summer programs than we have been able to offer in years past. You inspired me with some genuinely new ideas with which, in the future, I will be able to inspire others leading children's workshops in music.
Judith Gomory, Director, SPROUTS
Green County Council On The Arts, Catskill, New York

… [T]hank you for the excellent workshop series that you presented to my 84 sixth grade students. The workshops allowed students to experience the thrill of making, practicing, and performing with the instruments that they had created out of existing objects. This dovetailed perfectly with our curricula in science, art, music, and history.
The workshop day was a perfect springboard to creating excitement in recycling. We all look at the world in a renewed way. The students are able to look beyond an object's purpose original purpose and see what music can be created with a Pringles can.
… [Following] your workshop, the students created all four instruments in art, practiced with them in music, and finally performed for their classmates.
Please keep teaching. Your enthusiasm for your work is exactly what students need to see.
Julie Dwyer, Classroom Teacher
North Colonie Central Schools, Newtonville, New York

ON CAREER LECTURE
Thank you so much for speaking to our eighth grade Home and Career Skills students about careers. The information you provided about your experiences as a musician is an invaluable resource to our students. The handouts that you gave us will be used for all students who are interested in music in the future. Your interest in the success of future musicians is genuine which allowed our students to really absorb what you had to share with them. Your overall advice on marketing oneself and perseverance makes your presentation global and relevant to all career areas of success. Thank you for sharing your talent with young students who are just beginning to see their own relevance to the world at large.
Sandra Catricala, Home and Career Skills Teacher
Ballston Spa Middle School, Ballston Spa, New York

ON ASSISTING MUSIC & CHORUS DIRECTORS
Mr. Melick did … [a] drumming workshop with the 6th and 7th/8th grade choruses …
I found Mr. Melick was not only knowledgeable but also able to adapt his ideas to fit the students' abilities. He also took the time to listen and think of ideas that would fit into songs the choruses were preparing to perform. He did this before working with the kids.
The choruses received many compliments from the community regarding their performance.
Stacey L. Wright, Director
Berne-Knox-Westerlo Middle School
Berne, New York

I have had the extreme honor of working with Brian Melick … [who appeared as] a guest clinician at our school facilitating master classes for students in grades 6-12 in hand percussion. To begin, his presentation was flawless. He had the students captivated before his formal introduction. His energy is remarkable. His command of the art form, extraordinary.
Our first encounter with Mr. Melick came by way of invitation to fine tune a group of drummers … He explained the particular roles of each of the instruments … through demonstration and on-the-spot analysis of student work. Needless to say after 45 minutes with Brian the project took on a whole new light.
As a result, I invited Mr. Melick back a second time to coach an after school … drum project. Again, his presentation, manner and obvious enthusiasm added a new dimension to our students work. They absolutely loved him.
Brian Melick is the embodiment of all that is good with music education and hand drumming in particular. My only regret is that we cannot invite him to our school on a weekly basis.
Robert Button, Band Director
Doyle Middle School, Troy, New York

I want to thank you for the outstanding Latin percussion Presentation / Clinic you conducted for the Mohonasen Senior High School Field Show Band this year. Your percussion knowledge and expertise was timely and well received …
Your demonstration on the basic family of Latin instruments increased our group's understanding and appreciation of the beauty and diversity of this type of music. With your attention to details, such as varying the dynamics and touch, you brought new dimensions to the music.
I also want to commend you on your interactive, hand-on approach and treatment of both band instrumentalists and percussion students in the rehearsal portion of the workshop. This attention to detail in the workshop helped the entire band grasp the stylistic elements of Latin music and execute them with tremendous excitement and a heightened achievement level.
[T]he excellent rapport you established with our students is impressive. Your strong ability to gain the students' attention and focus on the key elements lacking the band's performance also deserves my utmost praise. As a result of your presentation, our band's performance reflected the fiery spirit of the music and captured the intensity, drive, and passion judges expect in live performances.
David G. Bournazian, Band Director/Facilitator Fine Arts K-12
Mohonasen Central School District, Schenectady, New York