Music has a beat, like a heartbeat: it keeps going, steady and even. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds in a song.
Steady beat
Put your hand on your chest and feel your heartbeat. Now clap a steady beat: clap, clap, clap, clap. Try body percussion: pat your knees, clap your hands, click your fingers, stamp your feet. Then try shakers, a tambourine or a biscuit tin drum.
Rhythm patterns
Say and clap: ta ta ti-ti ta (“mango, mango, man-go-tree!”). Ta is one long-ish clap; ti-ti is two quick claps.
Fast, slow, faster, slower
- Fast music: run on the spot, wiggle.
- Slow music: walk like an elephant, sway.
- Getting faster (accelerando): start slow and speed up.
- Getting slower (ritardando): start fast and slow down.
- Long sounds: stretch your arms wide; short sounds: tap your fingers.
Write a rhythm your own way
Invent symbols! A 👏 can mean a clap, a 🥁 can mean a drum and an empty box can mean silence (a rest). Line them up and play them back.
TRY ITBeat and rhythm
Choose a game.
Let’s practise
Try each one. Then tap Show answer to check.
1. What is the beat?
Show answer
The steady pulse of music, like a heartbeat.
2. What is rhythm?
Show answer
The pattern of long and short sounds.
3. Name three kinds of body percussion.
Show answer
For example clap, pat, click, stamp.
4. How would you move to slow music?
Show answer
For example walk slowly, sway, move like an elephant.
5. Invent a symbol for a clap and one for a rest.
Show answer
Your own answer, for example 👏 and an empty box.
Quick check
1. Clap “ta ta ti-ti ta”. How many claps?
Show answer
5 claps (ta, ta, ti, ti, ta).
2. What is a rest?
Show answer
A silence in the music.
3. What does getting slower mean?
Show answer
The music starts fast and slows down.
Words to know
Say these words with a grown-up. Can you use each one in a sentence?
beat · rhythm · body percussion · fast · slow · getting faster · getting slower · long · short · rest
Try it at home
- Keep the beat with a pot and a spoon while someone sings.
- Write a rhythm with your own symbols and teach it to your family.
- Listen to a calypso or soca song. Clap the beat. Is it fast or slow?
For parents and teachers
After this lesson, your child should be able to:
- keep a steady beat with body and untuned percussion
- play 2–4 simple rhythm patterns
- move to show long/short, fast/slow, getting faster and slower
- invent a way to write down a rhythm and play it
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