Hay River (Nov 22/04) - On the first day of class last year, music teacher Andrea Bettger asked her students what instruments they would like to learn to play. Ninety per cent said the drums.

"Obviously, I couldn't buy 30 drum sets," said the music and language arts teacher at Diamond Jenness secondary school in Hay River.

So she decided to invest in some buckets.

And despite a few initial doubts from the students, bucket drumming is now popular at the school; they've even started extracurricular bucket drumming club.

Bettger says bucket drumming is really drumming.

"I think it's popular when playing in unison," she says. "It's pretty exciting."

Such drumming has been popularized by 'Stomp' -- a Broadway show which creates percussion using everyday objects.

There are three main types of bucket drums -- a big garbage bin, a five gallon bucket and the smaller two gallon yellow bucket.

Bettger says that occasionally a big bass drum/bucket will go missing and she'll look around the school until she spots it collecting garbage somewhere.

She teaches bucket drumming to Grade 9 students. Between the class and club, there are now 37 DJSS students learning to drum.

Student Kristin Gostick, 14, has just started to learn bucket drumming.

"It's neat how different parts of the bucket play different sounds, just like the drums do," she says.

Jim Klassen, 16, who began drumming last year in Grade 9, says, "it's pretty much learning the drums."

When Bettger was hired last year, the school didn't have enough instruments to start a band. Most were old and unplayable.

However, Bettger -- a violin teacher and performer from Ontario -- says a traditional band would not be culturally relevant to most students.

This year she started a fiddle course.

"My intent is to start a fiddle craze," she said, noting that the instrument is particularly important in the Metis culture.