“Rhythm & pulse are the frame that the painting is drawn on – nothing else matters without it.” – @thomasjwest

The #MusEdChat on May 17th, 2010 was moderated by @MusicEdTech. The topic for the evening was: What methods do you use to introduce and improve rhythm reading and writing in your classroom setting? Many great methods and tips were passed along during this chat.

What Is Rhythm?

Rhythm was defined by educators in many different ways. Here are a few that were shared:

“RHYTHM is duration of sound. It’s more than just playing or clapping subdivisions of beats” – @MusicEdTech

“Rhythm is small beats (8th’s for example), big beats (quarters for example) and melodic rhythm on top.” – @rizzrazz

“Rhythm is the combination of long and short sounds.” – @clb1015

“Rhythm to me is the organization of sound and silence and the duration of both is a part of said organization” – @justine_robin

Teaching With Syllables

Alot of good methods were offered by multiple music educators. Some teachers felt that flash cards were a great way to instill common patterns in younger students. Others use words with a certain number of syllables to teach different rhythms. Animals (dog for quarter notes, pup-py for eighth notes), states (Maine for quarter notes, U-tah for eighth notes, Miss-iss-ipp-i for sixteenth notes), and food were all great ways to teach different rhythms to younger students. The participants also discussed multiple syllables for older students to help in learning rhythms. Many educators follow the “one- ee- and- ah” method for counting (One for quarter note, One- and for eighth notes, One – ee- and- ah for sixteenth notes). @mrsbrownmusic suggested using the ta ti-ti method ( ta for quarter notes, ti-ti for eighth notes). The participants seemed to agree that the specific syllables used to teach rhythm doesn’t matter, as long as you are consistent with one of them. Educators also discussed the important of rote learning with younger students. While rote memorization isn’t necessarily the best method of teaching many things, it is important to instill basic rhythms and processes of learning in students while they are younger, and rote is the best way to do this. As stated by @joshlabell,”With rote learning the kids get the sound in their heads first then you can build upon it. I use it in my classroom and private lessons.”

Other Ways to Teach Rhythm

Chat participants discussed many other ways to teach rhythm, many of them including technology. @selfmike suggested putting passages into Finale, taking a screen shot of it, and then incorporating it into a PowerPoint. @justine_robin then suggested teaching rhythm using notation software so that the teacher could change the rhythm on the screen real-time. @thomasjwest also suggested using the resources offered by Smart Music to facilitate some rhythm lessons.  Many of the educators in the chat suggested using warm-ups to teach rhythms. Just as warm-ups can be used to introduce new keys or time signatures, teachers can use them to teach rhythms. Some suggested playing scales in rhythms that may be a trouble spot in songs that students are performing. @shawdave said that he even makes up specific warm-ups to deal with whatever problem the students are having rhythmically. Teachers also stated that it is important for the students to be able to hear rhythms first in order to be introduced to them before they are able to play them.@MiamiFlute offered a rule of thumb for teaching rhythm: “SOUND before SIGHT before THEORY.”

Movement and Improvisation

Educators also discussed the importance of movement. Many #MusEdChat teachers felt that teaching students to feel the beat was perhaps the hardest part of teaching rhythm. So, teachers use movement to help students to do this. @MusicEdTech stated,” I find that kids don’t even know where the BEAT is so I start there. March in place and clap on a beat then move the beat around”.

Improvisation was another effective way of teaching rhythm that music teachers found valuable. Many suggested great ways to do this. Some felt the best way is to form a drum circle, and have students set up a groove while one student improvises. The idea of having students choose from a list to start out was added to this idea. Others suggested having students simply use one or two notes to improvise with only the rhythm.

Assessment Through Dictation

Teachers discussed ways to asses the understanding of rhythm in students. One of the biggest ways to do this is through rhythmic dictation. It seemed that the general thoughts of the participants were to use rhythmic dictation in moderation. @MusicEdTech also suggested that this is a good way for students to hear certain rhythms as well.

Hope to tweet with you at the next #MusEdChat!