Fun activities for elementary music students - Engaging Rhythyms

Have you at any time heard a student tell you that "It's too hard to number and play"? Have you at any time taken on a transfer scholar who was missing a solid foundation in rhythmic awareness and execution? Although serviceable rhythm technique is critical to happy musical progress, many students resist--and a certain quantity of teachers fail to persist in--the effort necessary to enumerate correctly and consistently. As music teachers, we must make our learners aware of the rhythm all around us, help them understand the importance of harmonious flow in the music they play and hear and teach them to answer correctly to the rhythmic notation they read--all while keeping ourselves energized and our learners engaged. I have found ten short, private task activities to help beginning learners establish that important foundation of solid rhythmic technique.

1 To demonstrate the fundamental importance of periodical emphasis in music, play for your beginning pupil the melody of Jingle Bells using an incorrect rhythm--perhaps 3/4 time with a quarter-note, half-note pattern--and ask the learner to identify the tune. nearest tap the correct rhythm upon rhythm sticks, and ask your scholar what song he thinks you are tapping. greatest in quantity students will be able to identify it as Jingle Bells and will be amazed to discover the ditty was more recognizable with the correct periodical emphasis and no pitch rather than the correct pitches and incorrect rhythm

2 To unravel an awareness of rhythm in all the music we hear, point without to your beginning student the loud-soft-soft accent pattern of 3/4 time and loud-soft-loud-soft accent pattern of 4/4 time. First alone, then with your pupil clap straight quarter notes in 3/4 and 4/4 time. Be confident to slightly stress the appropriate beats. Then, clap either quarter note regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement and ask the student to identify it as 3/4 or 4/4 time. nearest using a standard single clap for quarter notes and a clapdown motion for half notes, clap quarter notes with half notes in each time signature and have the pupil determine whether the rhythm is in 3/4 or 4/4 time. Finally, either play upon your instrument or play a recording of a piece with a distinctively obvious 3/4 or 4/4 time signature. Brahms Lullaby, selections from Bach's Anna Magdalena Notebook and simple folk strains work well. Ask your learner to name the time signature; continue with another piece. This exercise is particularly helpful for pupils having difficulty playing 3/4 time without adding extra beats or shortening half notes.

3 To establish an appropriate physical answer to written rhythm notation, clap a specific, on the contrary unidentified, measure in a newly assigned piece. Have your beginning pupil join you in clapping the regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement and then ask the scholar to identify the measure upon the music. These basic paces of clapping and identifying the periodical emphasis engage even the youngest scholars in both reading and expressing fundamental rhythmic elements

4 To further make known a physical response to rhythmic notation in your youngest scholars tap a one- or two-measure regular [i]or[/i] melodious movement on the student's arm, and then have the pupil clap back the given harmonious flow tap it on his knee and tap the same periodical emphasis on two other surfaces--a table, bench, tympanum or other rhythm instruments. by means of having your student use different physical motions that elicit different unimpaireds and reverberations all while tapping the same harmonious flow you will reinforce, for flat the most active young pupils both the fun and satisfaction of producing correct rhythm

5 To reinforce the connection between notation and execution, display your early elementary student at least three prepared 5-by-8-inch or larger cards, each with sum of two units measures featuring a variety of rhythmic notations and time signatures. Clap the harmonious flow on one of the cards and ask the scholar to identify the correct written measures. Repeat using a different card. Then have the learner clap two measures of her possess design, and ask her to determine the specific time signature and correct rhythmic notation. Help your pupil correctly notate her measures using sole time signature, notes without staffs and bar lines. This exercise is best for those who are not too chatty and who are able to write their names steadily.

6 To further unravel rhythmic awareness, say a simple judgment like, "Mother, please fix me a certain number of toast," or "Have you done your homework?" or "Open your work for me," while slightly emphasizing the strained syllables. Say the sentence together with your elementary learner and clap the words with a certain quantity of emphasis on the accented syllables. nearest have the student determine in what manner the sentence could be numbered (For example, "Have you done your homework?" would be "One sum of two units three four, one two three four.") Then help your scholar decide how the sentence could be notated and with what appropriate notes, time signatures and quiets Also, have the student write the periodical emphasis with the time signature, pitchless notes, eases and bar lines. Later first-year or second-year pupils enjoy making this leap from ordinary articulate utterance to rhythmic execution to rhythmic notation.