Perfect for Wider Opportunities projects and limited budgets, the 10 Player Class Percussion Starter Pack contains a set of carefully selected instruments and a copy of Andy Gleadhill's new Class Percussion Book. The book contains teacher's notes, preparation advice, warm-ups, lesson plans and six tunes from around the world and has been written for teachers from any discipline, not just music specialists. It takes teacher and pupils step by step from basics through all the elements of music, group playing and improvisation all the way through to their first performance. This resource enables a class to experience music making using accessible percussion instruments with a wide range of musical sounds from around the world and covering all the elements of music.

The 10 Player Starter Pack contains:

A one octave Metallophone in the key of C

A pair of Bongos

A Triangle mounted on a desk-top stand

A set of Agogo Bells

A pair of Maracas

A Tambourine

A pair of Claves (Clapsticks)

A Guiro

A Bento Shaker

A M'bira thumb piano

All instruments are all accessible and easy to play and there's a chapter in the Class Percussion Book that describes the best playing techniques for each instrument. Short video clips showing each instrument being played are currently under preparation. All instruments are all accessible and easy to play and there's a chapter in the Class Percussion Book that describes the best playing techniques for each instrument. Short video clips showing each instrument being played are currently under preparation. The first batch of video clips, showing how to play the instruments and demonstrating their parts in the first tune, are now available online at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL195F9D2554A49B86&feature=view_all

The instruments in the Pack have been carefully selected to cover a wide range of cultures and have geographic origins on each continent. The Class Percussion Book contains a short introduction to each instrument and detailed cultural background and videos of their use in traditional settings are currently under preparation.

The instruments have been chosen partly because they cover a wide range of sounds and geographic and cultural backgrounds and partly because they go well together. You can add more of any of the instruments to expand the number of players and the 20 Player Add-on Pack is specifically designed to expand the Starter set up to Class size. But you can of course add other instruments of your own choosing - just be sure that any pitched instruments fit with the C scale.

All are based on original designs from all over the world and are made by hand from natural materials following FairTrade principles. The instruments, and the baskets, are made in Bali using natural and local materials, often in local villages where they create a useful source of income for families and a low stress, clean and safe type of work. The beautiful and sturdy baskets are woven by hand from bamboo fibres and are traditionally used by Balinese artists, musicians and dancers for carrying their costumes and materials.

None of the instruments need any special maintenance. Just be careful not to let the basket and contents get damp and don't put it or any of the instruments on radiator or anywhere too hot. The instruments are tough but they're still instruments and need to be treated with respect and very small children should be continuously supervised. Should the skins of the bongos or the tambourine ever get damp or wet and lose their tension, you can use a hairdryer or convection heater to heat them up and you'll find that as the skin dries out it will regain its tension.