To teach the kids at Sibley Elementary School how to perform vocal percussion Matt McDonald of InPulse made them follow a couple of rules.

First, they had to sit up straight. They weren’t allowed to talk. And the final thing they had to do was practice. He didn’t want them to practice during class so he told them to practice for their parents because parents “love vocal percussion.”

One third-grader, Thomas Ganos, liked the drum sounds that some of the group members performed.

“I like how they can make those cool sounds,” Ganos said.

InPulse is an all-male a cappella group. They don’t use instruments — just their voices. The group performed Monday and Tuesday for the Albert Lea schools — elementary, middle and high — and had a show at the high school last night.

The a cappella group has four members, Andy Miller, Matt McDonald, Taylor Baggott and Ben Rudolph. The group was first formed at St. Olaf College in Northfield. McDonald explained his favorite part about performing for young kids.

“I like the looks on their faces when they hear the drums,” McDonald said. “It’s sort of a magic trick.”

The group has made three albums and opened for groups such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and Huey Lewis and the News. McDonald usually does lead vocals, Baggott is the tenor, Rudolph is the bass and Miller usually does the drums. Miller likes performing for younger audiences.

“Little kids get really excited, and at that age you have to get them into something,” Miller said.

The group can learn a new song in about an hour, but it could take longer if they are unfamiliar with the lyrics. They’re working on some new songs for summer, such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “I Won’t Back Down” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Something To Talk About.”

“We’re doing some county fairs and festivals this summer,” McDonald said. “This is a full-time job.”

The group does about 100 shows a year mostly at colleges and schools. They mostly perform covers of famous songs, because they said that’s what people want to hear. They want a cappella to become more mainstream.

“When we started it was very underground,” McDonald said. “We’re always changing out set list and hoping to get bigger shows.”