EDU Portal
Rhythm Exercises for Students
November 21, 2022Rhythm might come naturally to some people, but not everyone can quickly pick up on a musical pattern. Don’t worry. If you’re teaching your students about the arrangement of music through rhythm exercises, you and your students can build your knowledge of rhythm together.
Fun rhythm exercises help your students get into the groove and create great songs. By the end of your rhythm lesson plan, students will understand how rhythm works and why it’s essential.
Of course, students can put this knowledge into practice with a hands-on lesson plan that illustrates how they can apply rhythm theory to the real world. If you’re ready to shake up the classroom with exciting lesson plans, check out these rhythm exercises for a creative project that will inspire the whole class.
What Is Rhythm and Why Is It Important?
Whether your students create music through a DAW or a traditional instrument, rhythm is essential to their development as music makers. They may not realize it initially, but their favorite songs’ scales, chord patterns, and melodies depend on the rhythm.
Students may sometimes realize that their compositions need to be revised when creating music. Often issues arise from the displacement of the song’s rhythm. In musical composition, rhythm is defined as the basic pattern through which sounds flow. Not to be confused with rhythm, the beat is the steady pulse of musical composition and the simplest way to measure time in a song.
Understanding rhythm imbues students with the know-how and independence to create polished songs. However, the benefits of rhythm span far beyond the world of music. Rhythm is, in essence, the ability to perceive and measure time using sound.
Although some people are better at this than others, everyone can benefit from learning about rhythm. In fact, studies show that learning and memory are linked to certain beats within an increased ability to learn all subjects, not just music. When young students develop a sense of rhythm, they can smoothly navigate speech and intrapersonal communication.
What’s the Difference Between the Beat and the Rhythm?
Your students will probably get beat and rhythm confused with one another at first, but this is perfectly normal. Although the beat and the rhythm interact closely with one another, they serve entirely different purposes.
Essentially, the beat is what the song sounds like in its most basic form. Once the beat is established, the rhythm will add structure to the composition. In some songs, the rhythm may change throughout the composition while the beat remains the same.
The Best Rhythm Exercises For Students
At first, it may be challenging for some students to realize why rhythm is so important. After completing these exercises, they’ll understand how rhythm works. It may be helpful to frame the concept like this: if a musician misses a note, the song will still sound alright. In contrast, if the music is off rhythm, everyone can tell something is a little “off.”
These rhythm exercises all work together to ensure that your entire class understands rhythm on a deeper level. Each exercise builds upon the last to solidify the most critical components of rhythm theory.
Visualize the Rhythm
Making music is all about connecting with others and collaborating on something great. The primary way musicians, vocalists, and audio producers communicate their artistic vision with one another is through sheet music, a printed form of musical notation that uses symbols to communicate the specific chords, pitches, and rhythms within a song. When your students are learning about rhythm, a great place to start is by teaching your students about rhythmic notation.
When introducing the concept of rhythm, most educators begin with 4/4 since it is generally the first meter in musical instruction. It may be helpful to provide a visual representation of this concept using a note pyramid before moving on to other rhythm exercises. Once your students understand how rhythm communicates a note’s value, they’re ready to progress.
Vocalize the Rhythm
Teaching students about the elements of music theory can be challenging because they must learn how to translate music from a page into the real world. Since vocalization enhances cognition, counting rhythms aloud is one way to ensure that students fully comprehend how rhythm functions.
If your class uses Soundtrap for Education, instruct your students to go to the Control Panel, where they can turn the metronome on and off. It’s best to begin this activity without a track playing in the background because they can focus on counting the rhythm.
From there, they will set the metronome to a slow pace of 60 BPMs at a 4/4 time signature. Gradually increase the BPMs until students can confidently stay on beat up to about 120 BPMs, which is the typical BPM for most popular songs.
The easiest method to count rhythms is by using numbers. As your students get a feel for the rhythm, encourage them to begin counting “1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and” along with the metronome. The beat is signified with the numbers, and the eighth note subdivisions are represented by the “and.”
Get Moving with the Rhythm
Antsy students are eager to get out of their seats and get moving, so why not incorporate this into fun, engaging rhythm exercises? Learning through gamification creates a memorable experience that’s ideal for hands-on learners. Rhythmic movement exercises are also an easy, intuitive way to solidify information from the visualization and vocalization exercises above. Consider bringing these simple rhythm exercises into the classroom:
- The Jumping Rhythm Exercise: While students are chanting rhythm patterns, they will jump up and land on the macrobeat. If you’re not too keen on allowing your students to jump around, consider having them stand in a circle and toss a yarn ball to one another instead. On each macrobeat, the students will say “du” to signal the game’s rhythm. One student will throw the ball on the macrobeat, and the next student will catch the ball on the macrobeat. Instead of jumping, they will chant during each macrobeat.
- Clapping with the Metronome: Clapping with a metronome might take a little practice, but it’s well worth the effort! Begin by starting the metronome at a slower BPM, ranging from 60 to 80. The class should be able to clap or snap on the beat while counting. If you notice them rushing or dragging a beat, give them a moment to collect themselves. For this exercise, it’ll be more fun if you speed the metronome up gradually and see which student can stay on beat at the highest BPMs.
Students can combine visualization and vocalization with movement to fully grasp rhythm theory before creating their own music. When music makers work on rhythm in isolation, collaborating with other artists is a breeze since they can memorize music faster and more accurately.
Let Students Experiment with Rhythm in Soundtrap
Now that your students covered the basics, it’s time to jump in and apply the knowledge to their beat. At this point, you may have noticed that most of your digital native students aren’t interested in learning about music the traditional way, and that’s okay! Learning about music should be exciting and fun. Luckily, cloud-based DAWs are accessible, easy to use, and made especially for today’s students.
If your class is ready to collaborate, create, and connect like never before, Soundtrap for Education is here to help! Your students can easily apply all they’ve learned about rhythm by creating drum beats.
Getting Started with Drum Beats
Teaching students how to record their own drum beats is easy with our Drum Beats Sheet. These straightforward steps will illustrate how your students can apply their knowledge of rhythm to their drum beat.
- First, students log in to Soundtrap and click “Enter the Studio.”
- Next, they will open a new project titled “Drum Beats by ____” (insert name).
- Now, students are ready to recreate drum beats in their favorite style of music! Instruct your students to add three new drum kit tracks to their project and sounds that suit their desired style.
- Once students have the foundation of their track, they’ll go to the Control Panel and begin the metronome at the right tempo.
- Lastly, students will record their drum tracks one by one. Ensure that students quantize each track before moving on to the next.
And there you have it! By the end of the project, your students will have experienced rhythm firsthand. With these fundamental concepts, collaboration is a breeze, and your students can connect better than ever.
Experiment with Rhythm in Soundtrap
Soundtrap for Education is the ultimate audio production platform for students and teachers to create and edit audio recordings. Pupils and educators can easily tap into their artistic side with this intuitive audio platform that facilitates a creative learning environment for every subject, regardless of the student’s age or experience level.
With Soundtrap for Education, students and teachers can collaborate with advanced cloud technology at any time or place. In addition, the platform comes equipped with a robust resource portal. The portal contains tutorials, an external curriculum, and lesson plans to complete the educational experience. And to ensure privacy, teachers can ensure that student collaboration is safe and secure with invite-only groups in Soundtrap’s versatile digital environment.
If you’re ready to enhance your educational experience with an intuitive cloud-based audio production platform, get started today with Soundtrap for Education! Share this article with other teachers in your network to help spread the joy of learning through sound.
