Overview
Identify the pulse and rhythm in a song and play this on percussion instruments. Learn to write four beat rhythms.
Learning Objectives
Learning Outcomes
All pupils will be able to differentiate between the pulse and a rhythm.
Most pupils will accurately copy a heard four beat rhythm and clap a written rhythm.
Some pupils will have progressed further and will be able to create a four beat rhythm and write it out for themselves.
Sequence of Lesson Activities
Sing a well known nursery rhyme such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Repeat and ask pupils to tap their knees to the pulse of the song. Sing through again tapping the rhythm of the words on the palm of your hand. Ask the children what you were doing; discuss the difference between pulse (the beat of the music that does not change throughout the song) and rhythm (the speed of the individual notes of the melody which normally change throughout a song). Give half the class percussion instruments which are tapped and the other half instruments which are shaken. Repeat the nursery rhyme with the tapped instruments playing to the pulse and the shaken instruments playing the rhythm of the words. Swap the parts over.
Tap the four beat rhythms of phrases from the Goldilocks song that we have been using in the previous lessons:
Play the 'Human Bar' game. Have four children stand in front of the class to represent the four beats. For words which last one beat ask pupils to stand with their hands clasped together in front of them, e.g. 'who’s' and 'my'; for word(s) lasting half a beat the pupil stands with arms crossed one on top of the other, e.g. for 'eat-en' and 'por-ridge'.
So, 'Who’s eat-en my por-ridge?' = clasped, folded, clasped, folded.
When children are confident clapping rhythms, write rhythms as dots on a single line, with quicker notes (folded arms) written as two dots closer together and joined over the top with a square bracket.
Repeat the Human Bar game with pupils creating new rhythms for the class to play.
Extension Activities
In groups of five children play the Human Bar game with four children representing the beats and one child playing the rhythm.
Assessment