A Note for Parents: Rules of Improv While Playing Percussion Adventure With

Your Kid

In traditional improv, you accept and build on some logic.

In percussion improv, your child accepts nothing and destroys everything.

If you attempt to keep a steady beat, they will derail it.

Tap out a basic 4/4 rhythm on the drum? Nope. It’s now a 17/8 polyrhythmic masterpiece

featuring the offbeat smashes of a tambourine to your forehead.

Try to introduce a call-and-response pattern? Think again. Your child will respond only in sonic

explosions—pots, pans, and anything within arm’s reach are fair game.

Your job? Accept that time signatures are for the weak.

Every percussion instrument you introduce will be overturned, every stick repurposed as a

sword. Just roll with it. Or better yet, roll on the floor, because that’s where all the instruments

are now.

Perhaps you’d like to show them how to shake a maraca? Too bad.

They’ve decided maracas are actually magic wands that control the weather, and they will

summon a tornado (of MAGNA TILES) if you don’t comply.

Know when the session has peaked and find your out.