Darla Hanley's Music Room
Creative Teaching for Students of Today (& Tomorrow) PK-8
Today’s Teaching Strategy: Band of Metal
(Instrument Point-and-Play)
Upper Elementary (3-5)
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
This teaching strategy is all about playing classroom instruments in the metal category. It goes with a 2011 track by Swiss Powerbrass called “Sway” because of its brass instrument (metal) power (lol), distinctive sound, and Latin feel.
This track is available on multiple streaming audio platforms. (Like many of my teaching strategies, you should feel free to find other audio tracks to anchor the learning experience using music that works in your setting or new tracks to simply “mix it up.”)
Bonus! This teaching strategy includes a downloadable DHMR Word Search Puzzle of metal instrument vocabulary.
Pedagogical Foundations
Categories of instruments provide structure for young students and support their learning of instrument names, construction materials, timbres, and manner in which they are played. These categories form labels that organize instruments into groups of instrument families.
In ensembles like concert band and orchestra, instrumental categories include brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. And within these categories there are many specific instruments for students to experience, study, and know (e.g., brass = trumpet, trombone, tuba, euphonium, flugelhorn; woodwinds = flute, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, oboe; strings = violin, viola, cello, bass; percussion = bass drum, snare drum, marimba, xylophone, piano, etc.). We know this—and students should get to, too!
Further, there are stylistic instrumental categories that illustrate whether an instrument is acoustic or electric (e.g., acoustic bass/electric bass; acoustic guitar/electric guitar; piano/keyboard). These distinctions not only inform students of the instrument itself, but also how the sound is generated when it is played. Does it need to be plugged in? (This is a cool concept for students to recognize.)
At its best, in elementary general music, students experience a wide variety of classroom percussion instruments—presented to them in categories. At a foundational level, these categories include metals, woods, shakers, skins, and colors. Here’s a list of a few examples within the metal group:
Metals
Agogo Bell
Chimes
Cluster Bells
Cowbell
Cymbals
Double Bell Stick
Finger Cymbals
Jingle Bell
Jingle Stick
Jingle Tap
Single Sleigh Bell on Handle
Sleigh Bell
Spoons
Table Gong
Tambourine
Thera Bells
Triangle
Wrist Bell
Today’s teaching strategy “Band of Metal” focuses only on classroom percussion instruments in the metal family. I hope you give it a try with your students! But first, let me remind you who I am:
Hi! I’m Darla, an experienced PK-12 music educator, college professor, and former Berklee College of Music Dean looking to connect with teachers, parents/caregivers, and others seeking to advance creative music making for today’s students—and their teachers. In Darla Hanley’s Music Room you will find teaching strategies, advice and teaching tips, playlists, and more.
Today we are going to play instruments in the metal family! Before we play, let’s review which instruments are metal instruments. Our classroom metal instruments include different types of bells, along with triangles, gongs, cymbals, and chimes—instruments that are all or in-part made of metal.
ProTIP: This is an opportunity to show instruments (or pictures of instruments) and review their names. Note: We sometimes assume students know this information—be sure to take the time for review (or better yet, have students lead a review—and always name the instruments they play)!
Now we will play! Divide students into 3 groups: cowbells, agogo bells, and jingle bells. Distribute instruments and teach the “Band of Metal Rhythms” individually to its group by rote.
ProTIP: You know your students and learning targets! Have them read the rhythmic patterns instead of teaching by rote if more appropriate for your setting.
ProTIP: Use whatever metal instruments you have in your collection if you do not have enough cowbells, agogo bells, and jingle bells for everyone to play.
When I point to your group it’s your turn to play! And when I put my two hands together it’s time to stop playing and rest.
Play the recording of “Sway” by Swiss Powerbrass and direct students to play—layering parts (starting and stopping) one at a time.
ProTIP: Have students initially enter at 0.15 following an introduction.
ProTIP: There are several stop breaks in this track (e.g., 0.29, 0.44, 0.59). Have some fun and insert rests in these places—and then lead a discussion with students about how the music “is telling us to pause” and rest!
[Optional] Let’s listen to the music again without playing this time—so we can hear the different types of metal instruments playing. These instruments are all in the BRASS family. Play an excerpt of the track for students to hear, then resume the point-and-play.
Materials/Set Up
Cowbells
Agogo Bells
Jingle Bells
Variety of Metal Classroom Instruments
Band of Metal Rhythms
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
🎵 Swiss Powerbrass “Sway” Link to Track on Spotify
EXTEND the Learning:
Invite individual students to lead the point-and-play.
Add “2 groups playing at the same time”, and “everyone plays at the same time” to the point-and-play options!
Distribute a variety of metal instruments and direct students to create by “exploring rhythmic patterns” to perform with the track.
ProTIP: Free musical exploration is fun for students—and provides an opportunity for us to see what happens rhythmically, see if they know how to hold and play instruments, and see how they make musical decisions.
Download and print copies of the DHMR “Band of Metal Word Search” puzzle for the older students to complete (at home, or back in their classroom if okay with their teacher). Have students return completed puzzles and post them as part of a “metal instrument” bulletin board.
Learning Targets
Play, Connect
Learning Outcomes
Respond with instruments following nonverbal cues
Create original rhythmic patterns* and new arrangements of rhythmic patterns
Perform rhythmic patterns on metal classroom instruments
*This learning outcome is only addressed in the EXTEND the Learning section of this teaching strategy.
Assessment
Informal Observation/Formative Assessment
Thanks for checking this out. If you use this teaching strategy, be sure to leave a comment to let me know how it resonates with your students!