Rhythm, Part 2

O.k. I wanted to take this post to talk a bit about the unit I am going to be presenting for this project. I call it, "What Rhythm Is!" and I have developed it over the last 10 years of teaching general music classes to k-8 students. I have taught and been taught many different approaches to the instruction of rhythm, and found myself in the classroom combining elements from several of them as I developed my own method.

First, I make a clear distinction in my instruction between the notation of rhythm, which is an artificial writing system that really has nothing to do with what rhythms actually are, and the actual sounding of rhythms, or organization of sound in time, which is what rhythm is. Most people immediately think of half notes and quarter rests and time signatures when you ask about rhythm, but I want people to think about beats, and divisions and combination of those beats.

I further try to break down those rhythm elements into six easy-to-manage concepts. They are: Steady Beat, Meter, and the four rhythm tools (Leave it Alone, Scissors, Glue and Eraser). I show that with an understanding of those six concepts, one can create and perform virtually any rhythm imaginable. Only once a solid understanding exists of these concepts, do I approach the business of writing rhythms down.

I have found this approach to be pretty successful in the classroom with many different age and ability levels, and I am looking forward to seeing how I can translate this unit into an online learning environment.