rhythm – Color In My Piano

As promised in my last post, today I’m sharing a recent short video of my daughter, Aria, and I playing my Trick-or-Treat rhythm game. In fact, we took this video clip earlier today!

I’ve been playing this game with Aria daily for the past two weeks or so. I don’t ask Aria to read the rhythms on the cards, as I might with my older students. She’s three-and-a-half years of age, and my priorities are on developing her ear and musical understanding of that which she hears (i.e., audiation).

So, instead we use a variation of the game where the teacher reads and performs the rhythm pattern, and the student echoes it back. This is a valuable activity not just for young students, but for any student especially as they encounter new rhythm elements. (Read more about how I use this game with my students here.)

Anyway, please enjoy this short video and my time-stamped notes below. I hope you get some new ideas or inspiration from watching our interaction!

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Games

Trick-or-Treat! Rhythm Game – Newly Revised

28 September 20233 October 2023 Joy Morin

It’s that time of year! I have a recurring event in my calendar that reminds me at the end of September each year to get out my Trick-or-Treat Rhythm Game for my piano students. I use this game at the start of almost every lesson I teach throughout the month of October.

This game has been a classic in my studio since I created it back in 2018. I made it available for purchase in my shop a year later in 2019.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on making some revisions to the game and am pleased to announce the new version now available. I’ve smoothed out the progression of difficulty a bit and created 5 levels of cards instead of 4, but the game is essentially the same. In this post, I’ll tell you a bit more about it plus share some insights into how rhythm is taught from a Music Learning Theory perspective.

(PS: If you purchased the game in the past, you are eligible to receive an updated PDF at no cost. In fact, past purchasers of the game will receive an email from me later today containing a download link to the revised version. If you don’t see it, please contact me here and let me know!)

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Games

Getting out my Trick-or-Treat rhythm game!

16 October 202116 October 2021 Joy Morin

It’s that time of year — time to pull out my Trick-or-Treat! rhythm game! During the weeks leading up to Halloween, I like to use my Trick-or-Treat rhythm game at pretty much every student’s lesson. It’s a fun way to make students “earn” their treat, and it’s such a great game for building their rhythm skills. Best of all, they LOVE this game!

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Rhythm

VIDEO: Playing the Trick-or-Treat! Rhythm Game with a Piano Student

15 October 201928 September 2023 Joy Morin

Yesterday, my student Robbie and I made a quick video for you, demonstrating how to play my new Trick-or-Treat! Rhythm Game.

Here’s what you’ll find in the video:

0:12 | What to do if a student happens to draw a TREAT card first thing! (This is a rare occurance.)
0:33 | How to teach a student how to perform the rhythm patterns on the TRICK cards accurately. They need to be able to (1) identify the meter, (2) count in before speaking/counting the rhythm pattern, and (3) maintain the meter as they speak/tap the rhythm pattern. (More tips on this below.)
1:00, 1:20, and 1:42 | Watch Robbie chant more rhythm cards.
2:00 | Robbie draws a TREAT card, ending the game.

>>> Watch the video >>>

Below is more elaboration and tips on how to guide your students to perform rhythm patterns accurately. I hope you’ll enjoy hearing my thoughts on this, whether or not you plan to use my Trick-or-Treat! Rhythm Game!

1. Identify the meter as either duple meter or triple meter.

Ask students: “Is this is duple meter or triple meter?” Sometimes I follow up with: “How do you know?”

With these rhythm cards, it’s easy: just look at the way the eighth note beams are grouped!

To make sure it’s not only a visual thing, though, I teach my students to listen to and feel the meter as well.

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Games, Rhythm

Game: Which Rhythm Pattern Do You Hear?

15 May 201715 May 2017 Joy Morin

Today, I thought I’d share about a quick and fun rhythm game I’ve been using lately with some of my younger students.

Game: Which Rhythm Pattern Do You Hear?

Choose two animal erasers.
The teacher creates two rhythm patterns using these free cards, laying out each one by an animal eraser.
The teacher chants one of the two rhythm patterns and asks the student: Which animal’s rhythm pattern did you hear?
Repeat with new rhythm patterns.
If the student is ready for it, next try having the teacher and the student switch roles.

I like this activity because it keeps the focus on the SOUND of the rhythm patterns and because the only notation-related skill that is required is recognition. When switching roles, of course, the student is then required to create and perform notated rhythm patterns.

If you use Irina Gorin’s method book or if you want to keep things simpler, you can use Othello chips instead of rhythm value cards.

And if you are working with a small group of students, here is an idea for variating the game:

Each student notates a rhythm pattern, with an animal eraser sitting near it.
Whoever is “it” randomly chooses a pattern and chants it for the group.
The rest of the students identify which animal’s pattern was heard.

Have fun!

Games, Rhythm

Rhythm Activities with Othello Chips

12 May 201711 May 2017 Joy Morin

Since attending Irina Gorin’s summer workshop for piano teachers in 2015, her “Tales of a Musical Journey” has become one of my favorite piano method books to use with beginners.

In her book, she uses black circles and white circles to represent simple rhythms in duple meter. (Duple meter is MLT’s term for when the macrobeat [big beats] contains two microbeats [little beats].)

Here is an example of Irina teaching with the black and white circles.

It’s easy to cut black and white circles out of paper, but I’ve also been using Othello chips. They are perfect for this because they are black on one side and white on the other. I found a used Othello game at a thrift shop for $2 a couple of years ago, and have been using the chips for rhythm games on the floor with my beginner students.

These chips can be used in any rhythm game where you might normally use rhythm value cards. Here are a few quick examples:

The teacher notates two simple rhythm patterns (4 macrobeats in length), chants one of the patterns, and asks the student to identify which pattern they heard.
Notate simple rhythm patterns and chant them together.
Chant simple rhythms (perhaps using simple poetry) and notate them together.

The Othello chips also work great with a cloth staff/keyboard, which means the rhythms could be notated on the staff. There are many of fun uses for these chips! Let me know in the comments below if you have other ideas.

Reviews

Review: Rhythm Swing app

5 October 20155 October 2015 Joy Morin

Luke Bartolomeo has done it again! The developer of Flashnote Derby and Dragon Scales has released a brand new app for iPad and iPhone called Rhythm Swing.

The image below provides a look at the levels available within Rhythm Swing: Basic Notes, Basic Rests, and Eighth Notes.

The app tracks progress by marking completed sections with up to three stars. This works great for students who own the app on their own device. Currently, the app does not enable teachers to track students’ progress from the teacher’s device.

For each basic rhythm concepts, the app first provides video lessons.

Continue reading “Review: Rhythm Swing app” →

Reviews, Rhythm

App Review: Petronome

30 January 201530 January 2015 Joy Morin

App Review: Petronome for iPhone/iPad (FREE, or pay $0.99 to remove ads and add additional “pets”).

Petronome is just what is sounds like: a pet + a metronome. 🙂 It is a fun app to use for rhythm activities with preschoolers or any young beginner student. (Thanks goes to blog reader Elaine for letting me know about this app!) Continue reading “App Review: Petronome” →

Rhythm

Now Available: Rhythm Cards Level 3

18 March 201418 March 2014 Joy Morin

Over the past few months, I have received many inquiries asking when the Level 3 Rhythm Cards will be available in the Shop. I am so pleased to announce that they are here!

As with the other items in my Shop, the rhythm cards are a PDF download that includes the license to print from the PDF as much as desired for use with your own students. The Level 3 PDF contains 22 pages of rhythm cards (5 on a page), for a total of 110 cards. These cards work great for a variety of games (such as Swat-A-Rhythm, the Rhythm Train Game, or the BANG! game) and also work well to send home with students as part of their weekly assignments.

Each card contains a three- or four-measure rhythm example. The rhythm examples in Level 3 use ties, sixteenth rests, and various combinations of sixteenth notes with eighth notes. The time signatures used are 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 time.

Rhythm Cards, Levels 1-3

Continue reading “Now Available: Rhythm Cards Level 3” →

Reviews, Rhythm, Technology

Review: Rhythm Lab app

17 September 201317 September 2013 Joy Morin

Rhythm Lab app — $2.99 *for iPad only*

Rhythm Lab is an app created by Jon Ensminger (a piano teacher in Michigan) that is designed to help students improve their sense of rhythm. The app provides a series of graded rhythm examples for students to tap using the large, on-screen buttons. The app even evaluates the accuracy of the students’ performances.

I frequently use printed rhythm cards with my students during their lessons, but I have also been using this app recently with a few of my older students who really need help with rhythm and who have their own iPads at home. During the lesson, we practice a few rhythms and discuss strategies for accurate and musical rhythm performance (e.g., helping the student feel the meter beforehand). Then I can ask students to practice certain rhythms on their own at home. For students to use at home, Rhythm Lab is better than printed rhythm cards because the app can provide students with instant feedback.

There are a variety of one- and two-handed rhythms available, divided into 10 levels. The simplest rhythms feature basic rhythms and time signatures (2/3, 3/4, and 4/4). The more advanced rhythms feature mixed meter (5/4, 7/8, etc) and various tuplets. Continue reading “Review: Rhythm Lab app” →