Designed specifically for music educators, Basic Beat is West Music’s exclusive brand of percussion instruments and percussion instrument accessories. Because West Music develops and sources the products directly from manufacturers, it allows us to offer quality instruments at the very best price.
Below are some of our most popular elementary school instruments. Whether you’re looking for a specialized effect to grab the attention of your students or an Orff table stand to hold your xylophone, West Music has you covered!
Basic Beat Non-Pitched Percussion Instruments
Temple Blocks Set
The Basic Beat Temple Block set is perfect for use in the music classroom! Made of laminated wood, the temple blocks have five different pitches. They come with a sturdy, height-adjustable stand and one pair of rubber mallets. This is a quality instrument at a great price!
Key-Tuned Bongos
The Basic Beat Key-tuned bongos and stand is quality set at a great price! When you purchase these two items together, you save money – who doesn’t want to do that? The bongos are easy to tune and will withstand the test of time in your classroom. The stand is sturdy with double braced legs and is height adjustable to accommodate all players. If you are in need of bongos and a stand, this set is it!
Chiquitas
Perfect for little hands, these Basic Beat Chiquitas are softer than our previous model and pleasing to the ear. You’ll find all of your students, regardless of age, become instantly engaged when given the opportunity to make their own rhythms with these Chiquitas!
Egg Shaker
Simple in design, these Basic Beat egg shakers can produce a myriad of sounds. Cup one in the palm of one hand and use one in the finger tips of your other and you get two distinct sounds that complement each other. Cup in one hand with fingers closed around the egg for beats one and two then open your fingers for beats three and four to get two totally different sounds for a unique shake rhythm!
Wrist Bells
Early childhood music teachers and general music educators love these bells for their students! They can be attached to wrists or a small ankle, and the kids come up with the most creative ways to move in order to get the bells to ring! They can be used for creative movement, to keep a steady beat, or to just shake and have fun!
Plastic Finger Castanets
When used in pairs these colorful castanets are universally accepted by dance artists, music teachers, music therapists, early childhood music teachers and more. Their clackety-clack, crisp sound is comparable to more expensive wooden castanets.
Mini-Cabasa
This cabasa is the perfect size for younger students as it is smaller and lighter in weight than a standard cabasa. You will find that this instrument produces a fantastic, crisp sound.
Headless Tambourine
The Basic Beat Headless Tambourine has a great sound, is lightweight, and is the perfect size for music classrooms, music therapists, or anyone in need of an instrument to rock out on rhythms!
Stamped Finger Cymbals
Ever feel like everything is right with your children’s percussion ensemble piece except for…well something to really top it off? That smile inducing “ting” or “ching” that can only be achieved using finger cymbals may be just the thing! These Basic Beat finger cymbals are lighter and brighter and perfect for songs or sound effects while reading poems and stories to your class!
Basic Beat Pitched Percussion Instruments
12-Note Glockenspiel with Case
The Basic Beat 12-Note Glockenspiel is fully compact inside its own hardshell case. A convenient magnetic staff board is on the inner case and aids in teaching musical notation, this is a great tool for students beginning to read musical staff notation.
8-Note Resonator Bells with Case
These colorful Basic Beat resonator bells are sure to be a welcome addition to your classroom, church or home musical instrument collection. Little ones will be drawn to these bright colored bells which can be played by as many as eight children as individual resonator bells, or by one child as an eight-note set!
Resonator Chime Bars
The Basic Beat Resonator Chime Bars match the colors of Boomwhackers and because of their C diatonic scale are perfect for most musical pieces. The bars are tube shaped and can be individually held. They come with their own case and 8 mallets, what more could you ask for?
8-Note Diatonic Step Bells Set
The Basic Beat Diatonic Step Bells are great for teaching and demonstrating melodic direction. These can easily prop up on a desk, table, or can be held by hand.
Basic Beat Mallets
10″ Hard Rubber Mallets
The best hard rubber mallets out there for the price! If you are trying to stretch your budget and in need of new glockenspiel mallets, these are a fantastic replacement. Durable handles and head, you might not ever switch back to the expensive ones!
Timpani Mallets
The Basic Beat Timpani Mallets aren’t just for timpani! If you’re looking for a universal mallet that could be used on most of the unpitched percussion in your classroom, this is it. The wool/felt combination make a great sound on cymbals, frame drums, gongs, and anything with resonating surface area.
8″ Large Wood Mallet
The Basic Beat 8″ Wood Mallet is a great replacement for lost mallets of woodblocks, crow sounders, and even cowbells. Great for small hands.
Orff Mallet Pack – Set of 18
Look no further! We’ve packaged every type of mallet you’ll need to get your students playing on their Orff instruments. We have you covered with soft, medium, hard, wood, plastic, and mallets for Bass bars.
Basic Beat Percussion Instrument Accessories
Rolling Orff Stand
What we like about this Orff stand is it was designed by us! We put our heads together, looked at what we would want an Orff instrument stand to do if we were still in the classroom and came up with this stand. It fits your bass xylophones or metallophones as well as the sopranos and altos, or tenor/altos in the case of Sonor instruments. It’s easy to switch from one size of instrument to another and then adjust once you get there. Here’s the part we really like, no tools needed, ever.
Dust Cover for Alto Xylophone or Metallophone
Tired of dust, debris, and dirt from your classroom getting into your Orff instruments? Protect them well with the Basic Beat Xylophone and Metallophone dust cover. You won’t regret this purchase!
Basic Beat Guarantee
Did you know, when you choose Basic Beat branded products, each item includes a 1-year replacement warranty? West Music takes pride, care, and consideration to create quality products at affordable prices. If anything detrimental should happen to your Basic Beat instrument or accessory, if you are not fully satisfied with your Basic Beat purchase, or if there are any product defects discovered within the first year; we are happy to exchange it for a replacement item or credit your account for a future purchase. Please note: All exchanges and/or replacements are subject to approval. All you need to do for resolution is to give us a call at 800-397-9378 or email service@westmusic.com to complete the process. We are here to help!
Tereasa Evans is the Music Education Consultant for Classroom Percussion and Wellness. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and her Master’s of Music in Percussion Performance, has her Level I, II, and III Orff-Schulwerk certification, has taught elementary music in the state of Florida for 10 years, along with participating in and directing various indoor, marching/DCI, and percussion ensembles throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida. She has performed on many platforms including symphony orchestras, world music ensembles, drum corps, and drum circles. Tereasa is also certified in Remo HealthRhythms facilitation, Beat the Odds, and currently pursuing her Drums Alive Master Trainer status. She manages products for music therapists, music educators and the general hobbyists specifically related to unpitched percussion in an elementary music classroom. She works with West Music’s own music therapy department to produce and provide instruments to meet the needs of music therapists not only for the in-house department but customers around the country. She also works with major percussion manufacturers to meet the needs of her customers. Whether she’s striking, shaking, scraping, drumming, or breaking instruments it’s all for a good reason and to benefit her customers.
