World Music for Schools
World music means the traditional and popular music of cultures around the globe. Six styles schools often teach are Brazilian samba, Indonesian gamelan, West African drumming, Indian classical music with its raga and tala, Chinese music built on the five-note pentatonic scale, and steel pan from Trinidad and Tobago. Each has its own instruments, scales and ways of playing together.
Updated · By the Classfern Music Department
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses US words and grades (measure, half step, elementary school); the UK version uses bar, semitone and Key Stages. · UK version of this page
Key facts
- Samba: Brazil; drums led by a big surdo beat; usually in 2/4 time.
- Gamelan: Java and Bali, Indonesia; gongs and metallophones; tuned to slendro (5 notes) or pelog (7 notes).
- Indian classical: a raga (scale and mood) and a tala (rhythm cycle); tintal has 16 beats.
- West African drumming: djembe, call and response, interlocking rhythms.
- Steel pan: Trinidad and Tobago, 1930s–1940s.
What is world music?
World music is a broad name for the traditional and popular music of cultures around the globe, especially music from outside Western Europe and North America. In schools it usually means learning a few styles in depth, such as Brazilian samba, Indonesian gamelan, West African drumming, Indian classical music and Caribbean steel pan.
| Style | Where | Instruments | Listen for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samba (batucada) | Brazil | Surdo, caixa, repinique, tamborim, agogô, ganzá, apito (whistle) | Layers of rhythm over a big bass beat; whistle calls |
| Gamelan | Java and Bali, Indonesia | Gongs, metallophones (saron, gendèr), kendang drum | A slow core tune, decorated faster by higher instruments; the big gong marks each cycle |
| West African drumming | Mali, Guinea, Ghana and neighbouring countries | Djembe, dunun (bass drums), bells | Call and response; bass, tone and slap sounds; interlocking patterns |
| Indian classical | India | Sitar, tabla, tanpura (drone), bansuri flute | A raga melody over a drone; a tala rhythm cycle such as 16-beat tintal |
| Chinese traditional | China | Erhu (two-string fiddle), guzheng (zither), pipa (lute), dizi (flute) | Five-note pentatonic tunes; sliding notes |
| Steel pan | Trinidad and Tobago | Tenor, double seconds, cello and bass pans | Bright, bell-like chords and fast tunes; carnival bands |
What is samba music?
Samba is a Brazilian music and dance style. A samba drum band, or batucada, layers many rhythms over a big, low surdo beat, usually in 2/4 time. The repinique player leads with calls, and the whole band answers. Samba is the music of the carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro.
Samba groove: switch the parts on and off
A simple classroom samba. Turn parts off and play them yourself on classroom percussion, or turn them all off but one and listen to how it fits. The drum sounds come from the Classfern music engine.
Sounds are made in your browser. This tool never uses the microphone, and nothing is recorded, saved or sent.
Each part has a job. The surdo keeps the pulse, the caixa fills every gap, the tamborim and agogô play catchy patterns, and the ganzá adds a constant shimmer. A whistle (apito) tells the band when to start, stop or change.
What is a gamelan?
A gamelan is a traditional orchestra from Indonesia, mainly Java and Bali. It is made of gongs, metal-keyed instruments called metallophones, drums and sometimes flute, fiddle and singers. Gamelans are tuned to their own scales, slendro (five notes) or pelog (seven notes), so every gamelan sounds a little different.
Hear a scale close to slendro
Slendro has five notes, roughly evenly spaced in the octave. Its notes fall between the keys of a piano, so this glockenspiel version (C D E G A) is only an approximation, the same five-note pentatonic scale many schools use for gamelan-style playing.
These are short, simple versions made by Classfern from music that is out of copyright. The sound is made in your browser; nothing is recorded, saved or sent.
Gamelan music is built in layers. The saron plays the core tune, higher instruments play it faster and with decoration, the kendang drummer controls the speed, and the huge gong ageng marks the end of each cycle. In Bali, pairs of instruments are tuned slightly apart, so the music shimmers.
What rhythm is used in Indian classical music?
Indian classical music uses tala, a rhythm cycle that repeats. The most common North Indian tala is tintal: 16 beats in four groups of 4. Players clap on beats 1, 5 and 13, and wave the hand on beat 9 (the khali, or empty, beat). The tabla drummer plays patterns that always come home to beat 1, called sam.
Clap tintal: the 16-beat cycle
Clap along: clap on 1, clap on 5, wave on 9, clap on 13. Count aloud “1 2 3 4, 2 2 3 4…” to keep your place.
Sounds are made in your browser. This tool never uses the microphone, and nothing is recorded, saved or sent.
How do you teach music from around the world at elementary school?
Teach world music by listening first, then playing. Choose one style per half term, find where it comes from on a map, listen to real musicians, then learn one simple part each and build it up together. Call and response is a great way in, because everyone joins straight away.
Samba lesson plan for grades 3 to 5, 45 minutes
Objectives: pupils keep a steady samba pulse, play one part against another, and respond to a leader’s call. Resources: this page on a board with speakers; drums, shakers and bells, or buckets, cups and body percussion; a whistle.
| Time | Activity | How it is assessed |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Listen to the groove. Where is Brazil? What do you hear? | Self-assessed |
| 5–15 min | Walk the surdo beat; clap the strong second beat; say the agogô pattern | Self-assessed |
| 15–30 min | Three groups: surdo, agogô, ganzá. Each learns its part with the groove, then switches off the computer part and plays it themselves | Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) |
| 30–40 min | Call and response: the leader plays a 4-beat call on a high drum and everyone answers, then a whistle signal to stop | Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) |
| 40–45 min | Perform; record it on the school’s own device; talk about what worked | Evidence kept at home |
Support: give the surdo part (one beat) to anyone who needs a simpler role, and slow the tempo slider to 80. Challenge: confident pupils lead the calls or invent a new break. Fits the Performing and Responding strands of the National Core Arts Standards; check your state’s wording.
Samba: play in a batucada
A practice lesson for the samba groove on the Classfern lesson engine. Each step says how it is assessed:
- Self-assessed – the playing steps and the “I can” checklist
- Judged by a teacher or parent (rubric) – a three-line rubric for a grown-up who watches
- Evidence kept at home – a recording on your own device; Classfern only keeps a list
Quick quiz: music around the world
Marked by Classfern 6 multiple-choice questions on the Classfern lesson engine. Your answers stay on this device.
Classfern’s free music tools on lessonplanner.info include tuned percussion tubes for pentatonic tunes, the music history timeline and instruments of the orchestra.
More music tools
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