Beat Vs. Rhythm

Students in music class spend a large amount of time at the beginning of the year practicing steady beat vs. rhythm. There are many activities to practice these two skills and it is my job to make them fun and engaging.

One of my favorite activities is to use a store bought plastic cup and have the students pass it in a circle on the beat to music. The students then identify different beats that we can change into rhythms. Once they have chosen the rhythms to use we add words to make it easier to remember and set off to practice it.

We practice using body percussion first and then add the cups without passing them. Then we pass the cups in a counter-clockwise direction, slowly at first, without the music and then up to tempo with the music. The final step is to be able to audiate the rhythm and pass the cups while thinking the rhythmic phrase in our heads.

Below are two videos, one has the spoken phrase with it and the other without.