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Fun activities for elementary music students - Engaging Rhythyms
American Music Teacher, April-May, 2002 by Kirsten Allen Foutz
Have you ever heard a student tell you that "It's too hard to count and play"? Have you ever taken on a transfer student who was missing a solid foundation in rhythmic awareness and execution? Although good rhythm technique is critical to successful musical progress, many students resist--and some teachers fail to persist in--the effort necessary to count correctly and consistently. As music teachers, we must make our students aware of the rhythm all around us, help them understand the importance of rhythm in the music they play and hear and teach them to respond correctly to the rhythmic notation they read--all while keeping ourselves energized and our students engaged. I have found ten short, private lesson activities to help beginning students establish that important foundation of solid rhythmic technique.
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1. To demonstrate the fundamental importance of rhythm in music, play for your beginning student the melody of Jingle Bells using an incorrect rhythm--perhaps 3/4 time with a quarter-note, half-note pattern--and ask the student to identify the tune. Next, tap the correct rhythm on rhythm sticks, and ask your student what song he thinks you are tapping. Most students will be able to identify it as Jingle Bells and will be amazed to discover the song was more recognizable with the correct rhythm and no pitch rather than the correct pitches and incorrect rhythm.
2. To develop an awareness of rhythm in all the music we hear, point out 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 student, clap straight quarter notes in 3/4 and 4/4 time. Be sure to slightly stress the appropriate beats. Then, clap either quarter note rhythm and ask the student to identify it as 3/4 or 4/4 time. Next, 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 student determine whether the rhythm is in 3/4 or 4/4 time. Finally, either play on 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 tunes work well. Ask your student to name the time signature; continue with another piece. This exercise is particularly helpful for students having difficulty playing 3/4 time without adding extra beats or shortening half notes.
3. To establish an appropriate physical response to written rhythm notation, clap a specific, but unidentified, measure in a newly assigned piece. Have your beginning student join you in clapping the rhythm, and then ask the student to identify the measure on the music. These basic steps of clapping and identifying the rhythm engage even the youngest students in both reading and expressing fundamental rhythmic elements.
4. To further develop a physical response to rhythmic notation in your youngest students, tap a one- or two-measure rhythm on the student's arm, and then have the student clap back the given rhythm, tap it on his knees and tap the same rhythm on two other surfaces--a table, bench, drum or other rhythm instruments. By having your student use different physical motions that elicit different sounds and reverberations all while tapping the same rhythm, you will reinforce, for even the most active young students, both the fun and satisfaction of producing correct rhythm.
5. To reinforce the connection between notation and execution, show your early elementary student at least three prepared 5-by-8-inch or larger cards, each with two measures featuring a variety of rhythmic notations and time signatures. Clap the rhythm on one of the cards and ask the student to identify the correct written measures. Repeat using a different card. Then have the student clap two measures of her own design, and ask her to determine the proper time signature and correct rhythmic notation. Help your student correctly notate her measures using only 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 develop rhythmic awareness, say a simple sentence like, "Mother, please fix me some toast," or "Have you done your homework?" or "Open your book for me," while slightly emphasizing the stressed syllables. Say the sentence together with your elementary student and clap the words with some emphasis on the accented syllables. Next, have the student determine how the sentence could be counted. (For example, "Have you done your homework?" would be "One two three four, one two three four.") Then help your student decide how the sentence could be notated and with what appropriate notes, time signatures and rests. Also, have the student write the rhythm with the time signature, pitchless notes, rests and bar lines. Later first-year or second-year students enjoy making this leap from ordinary speech to rhythmic execution to rhythmic notation.
