Presenting Rhythms Visually
"Let's review. We had a note that made the sound ta. What is the name of that note?"
Quarter note
"How many beats does a quarter note get?"
1
"And how many syllables does ta have?"
1
"Which one of these notes is a quarter note?"
Students point at or describe a quarter note. Instructor drags a quarter note to a heart.
"Now, which note made the sound ta-ti?"
Eighth notes
"How many syllables are in ta-ti?"
2
"How many heartbeats is ta-ti?"
1
"Which notes are the eighth notes?"
Students point at or describe eighth notes. Instructor drags eighth notes to a heart.
"What about this one?" Instructor drags quarter rest to a heart.
"What is this one called?"
Quarter rest
"Does it make a sound?"
No
"Does it get any beats?"
Yes - 1 beat (if students say no, instructor ask students to point at hearts as instructor improvises a 4-beat rhythm with one quarter rest included in the middle - example: ta, rest, ta-ti, ta - ask students if they continued moving through the beats or if they stopped at the rest)
"Now what about ta-ka-ti-ki? How many sounds does that make?"
4 sounds
"How many beats does it get?"
1 (if students do not know, the instructor improvises a 4-beat rhythm that includes one set of sixteenth notes. Ask students how many hearts they touched on the sixteenth notes)
"So which note do you think will be ta-ka-ti-ki?"
Students point to sixteenth notes.
"Ok. Let me write a rhythm for you. I'm going to give you 5 seconds to practice on your own before we read it together."
The instructor writes a rhythm and gives students a few seconds to practice on their own. The instructor then counts off students and cues them to read the rhythm together as a class.
Instructor write 3-5 more rhythms for students to practice reading.