Cups Tutorial

From March 27-29, we held a Kratzke Reunion to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of my grandma, Ruth Volkert Kratzke.

We had last gotten together in September of 2019 to celebrate my grandpa, Albert William Kratzke.  Since then, the Boomers have retired (Dad Apr 2019; Mary May 2020; Peter Jul 2023; Bill May 2024; Steve Feb 2026), three new babies have been born (Kaia Jul 2023/Jess & Matt; Max Dec 2023/Lien & Bill; Anja Dec 2025/Jess & Matt), and tragically, our dear cousin Andrew passed away at the age of 37 (Sep 2020).

As a tribute to Andrew, Aunt Mary suggested that we learn "Cups."  It was originally performed in 1931 by the Carter Family.  Its title was "When I'm Gone," and it sounded like this.

Then in 2009, the British band Landshapes re-arranged the song and included cups percussion.  Three years later, Anna Kendrick made this version famous in the movie Pitch Perfect.

Here's the song with Karl, Peter, Emily, Lien, and me.

There are lots of videos on the cups tutorial, but they all start with the easiest part.  I will remember how to do cups for about 4 and a half more days, so I wanted to make my own by then.

Key concepts are:

    1.  The cup routine can be thought of as 2 measures, which then repeat.

    2.  Once it's learned, it goes roughly two beats per second or MM = 120.

    3.  The cup gets turned by 360° in four 90° segments.

    4.  Generally, the dominant hand is very active and the other is not.

    5.  These are the words Rachel learned decades ago:

        ----

        clap clap

        bumblebee

        clap up

        down (rest)

        ----

        clap turn

        touch touch

        change pat

        down  (rest)

        ----

My tutorial is presented in 5 steps.  Scroll down to follow along with the video.

Step 1: In which we rotate the cup 270° of the 360°.

    ----

    clap turn

    touch touch

    change pat

    down  (rest)

    ----

Step 2:  In which we perform the entire 360° rotation

    ----

    clap turn

    touch touch

    change pat

    down (rest)

    ----

Step 3: In which we establish a pulse

    ----

    clap turn

    touch touch

    change pat

    down  (rest)

    ----

Step 4:  In which we learn the first measure

    ----

    clap clap

    bumblebee

    clap up

    down (rest)

    ----

Step 5: In which we put it all together

    ----

    clap clap

    bumblebee

    clap up

    down (rest)

    ----

    clap turn

    touch touch

    change pat

    down  (rest)

    ----

Cups Tutorial