I am a strong believer in breaking down the elements of music for new choristers. For me, rhythm is the horizontal aspect of music notation -- it is something that we read across the page, much like the way you are presently scanning this blog entry. Pitch is the vertical aspect, and there will be a plan for a small group activity looking at that shortly.
You'll also get a flavor of my teaching style from this. I ask a lot of questions: the reason for this is that people will retain only 20% of anything I tell them, but close on 100% if they tell me.
Aims:
- Reinforce knowledge of simple rhythm elements:
o Note values
o Clapping simple rhythm drills
o Composing rhythm drills for performance within the group
- Reinforce knowledge of the difference between beat/pulse and rhythm (note values)
Equipment:
- Hymnbooks
- Blank A5 sheets
- Pencils
- Whiteboard and markers (if available)
Key terms:
- Whole-note, half-note, quarter-note, eighth-note
- Value = duration
1. Recap Sarah Lee Cake example on note values down to quavers – re-emphasise that all note values are relative to the whole note. If a whiteboard is not available, work through the example on a large sheet of paper.
a. Ask the following questions:
i. What do we do to the note head to show that it is taking up fewer beats?
ii. When we (add a stem, fill in the notehead, add a tail/beam), are we making the length of the note shorter by half or by about two-thirds?
iii. Clap each of the note values, remembering the pattern of clap-push for half and whole notes.
2. Open hymnbooks to the tune Down Ampney. Ask each member of the group to find and point to the following notes in the melody line:
a. A whole note (two in the tune)
b. A half note
c. A quarter note
d. An eighth note
3. Clap the first three phrases of the tune together:
a. Tap an audible pulse on a table to keep everyone together. Someone in the group will be out of time.
b. Before repeating this exercise, ask if anyone thought it was all together and challenge the group to do better.
c. Use peer-group competition by working around the group and getting choristers to clap the opening phrase on their own. Ask everyone else to tap the beat gently on a table or their hymnbook (make sure everyone is tapping the same beat!).
i. Ask what the larger group is tapping on the table/hymnbook – is it the beat, or the rhythm? Should the beat be steady, or does it change with the note value?
ii. What is each person clapping in the tune – the beat or the rhythm?
d. Round off by getting the group to clap the whole tune together (don’t worry about observing the fermata).
4. Each member of the group is to make up a rhythm exercise of 12 beats duration. They may use whole notes, half notes, quarter notes or eighth notes.
a. Allow five minutes for the group to compose their rhythm exercise.
b. If a whiteboard is available, transcribe the rhythm exercises so that everyone can see them; if not, have the members of the group swap their sheets with the person opposite. Alternatively, break the group into two smaller ‘teams,’ and swap the exercises between them.
c. Perform the rhythm exercises by the same scheme as for Down Ampney.
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