Whacky Fajita

by John Riggio

This lively Latin Boomwhacker® piece is super easy to play. All notes are whole notes, and while your players start in measure 1, we give you a two bar count-off - in Spanish! To keep it very readable for young players, we have written out the part completely, so there are no repeats or D.C., etc. The piano/BW score does have these shortcuts, as it's easier to read in a recording studio that way. As a result, the measure numbers are different for the parts than they are for the score. If you are interested in seeing the score, we have it available as a free PDF online. (See details following.)

For performing "Whacky Fajita," it might be fun to have your students wear large sombreros and Mexican ponchos, or other traditional Mexican garb. If you have a few students who keep time well, have them play shakers, guiro, maracas, or other Latin percussion along with our tracks on the recording.

At the end of the tune, you will see the note: "Add Boomwhacker® applause after (opt.)." We found that when students worked so hard to focus and play their BW notes meticulously in any tune, even light and fun ones like this, they get a bit tense. So we invite them to let loose after a performance by randomly playing their respective BWs together. We call this Boomwhacker® applause. It's best to give them a cue to begin it and use either a decrescendo (fade gesture) to a cut off, or just a big cut off to end it. Using it at all is, of course, optional. But the kids get a kick out of it in our experience. (If you have a particular opinion about BW applause and whether or not you use it, and/or your players like it, let us know! We're always up for feedback.)

Online extras - The free, downloadable extras mentioned can be found under the Graphics and Extras for Volume 19, No. 1 at MusicK8.com

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.