Louisville Leopards take Manhattan

The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are a performing ensemble comprised of 60+ student musicians ages 7-12, who reside in 20 different Louisville zip codes and attend 27 different schools in and around Louisville, Kentucky.

The Leopards don't read music; instead they learn new songs by ear. For Diane Downs, their teacher, it's all about the kids' talents and their desire to play music.

Thanks to Leigh and John Nouveaux for sharing this story.


In 2006 they performed  at the International Association for Jazz Education annual conference in Manhattan, and their journey was chronicled in the 30-minute HBO Family documentary "THE LEOPARDS TAKE MANHATTAN: THE LITTLE BAND THAT ROARED"




First, Diane plays a recording of the song, and the children identify the instruments they hear. Since they are a percussion band, they turn big band instruments -- trombones, saxophones, etc. -- into percussion instruments and each child is assigned a part.

To help them get the rhythm of the song, Diane makes up fun and easy-to-remember phrases that the kids repeat as they play, such as "Banana one, two, three. I am a tree," or "David is a meatball. David is a meatball." Then, they work collectively to create their arrangements and diligently teach each other until the entire group learns the song.

Of her unconventional techniques, Diane says, "I get into trouble sometimes for teaching them how to play by ear," but makes the point that, "You learn how to talk before you learn how to read words. So, we're learning how to listen before we learn to read music."

The groups' mission is to provide a comprehensive musical experience for children that enriches lives and builds community. Their vision is for participants of diverse backgrounds to develop music appreciation, performance skills, proficiency on a variety of percussion instruments, and learn to improvise, compose, and teach music, and to care for their instruments.

These skills build creativity and self-confidence and teach life-long values of personal discipline, cooperation, leadership, responsibility, and community.