© 2016 • Plano, Texas • 800-445-0649 • fax 972-943-8906 • www.musicmotion.com

RHYTHM INSTRUMENTS Activity Guide

INSTRUMENT NAME GAME Round 1. Place instrument dots in a big circle, with one dot in front of each child. Each child in turn names the instrument in front of them, then claps the syllables of the name and identifies how many sounds are in the name. “tam-bour-ine” “mar-a-cas” “cow bell” “drum” etc.

Round 2. Go around the circle clapping in turn the instrument names to a steady beat. Each child claps and says aloud the instrument name 3 times in a row. Round 3. Same as Round 2, except this time after each child claps and says his instrument name 3 times, the rest of the class echoes 3 times.

INSTRUMENTS-GO-ROUND Form a big circle with Rhythm Instruments. Place real rhythm instruments that match the dots in the center of the circle. Choose the same number of kids as there are dots to walk around the circle on a steady beat as the music plays. When the music stops, kids go to the center to find the instrument that matches the dot nearest them, then return with the instrument to their place in the circle. When the music starts, they stand in place and play the beats on their instrument. When the music ends, they put the instruments back in the middle, and return to their places. Repeat the activity with the same or a different group of kids. NOTE: To make sure the kids don’t play their instruments before the music starts, have them lay their instruments on the ground next to the dot. On a given sound cue, they pick up their instruments to get ready.

ORCHESTRATE A STORY OR POEM Let the children choose instruments to substitute for key words, such as nouns, action verbs, or expressive adjectives or phrases, and place an Instrument dot over these key words or phrases. Recite the story or poem, accompanied by the rhythm instruments. Recite the story or poem, substituting the instruments for the words.

Our safe, durable 33/4" silicone dots cling like magnets to your whiteboard, laminate, or any smooth surface, and can be used on the floor as spot markers or game pieces for group activities. Easy to clean with vinegar or window cleaner, so they always cling like new!

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown

Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,

“Are the children in their beds?

For now it’s eight o’clock.”

x 4

x 8

RHYTHM INSTRUMENTS 15 colored instruments dots and

1 blank white dot to draw or write your own with erasable markers. Set of 16 28113

GROOVY RHYTHMS Assign Instruments dots to different lines of rhythm patterns on the whiteboard. Play the lines separately, then combine 2, 3, then all 4 lines together. Try different instruments, different rhythms, different tempos, different dynamics. Then play it again, Sam. . .and again. See our Tempo and Dynamic MGRs on next page.

NAME THAT INSTRUMENT! Listening Game

Teacher at the back of the class plays a few beats on a rhythm instrument. Students go the whiteboard and place the matching

Instrument dot on the left side of the board. After the next instrument is sounded, another student goes to the board and places the matching dot on the right side of the previous dot. Activity continues as other students have a turn. When several dots have been placed on the board, each child who placed a dot correctly on the board plays 4 beats in a row on that corresponding instrument, keeping a steady beat between players. Do the same thing in 3-beat and 2-beat patterns.

WHODUNNIT GAME: And How Many Footsteps Did You Hear?

Students face forward, while the teacher stands behind them. She plays 1, 2, 3, or 4 beats on a rhythm instrument. Kids in turn go to the whiteboard to put the correct Instrument dot and then place a Stick Rhythm or write a stick rhythm for every beat they heard. After several have had turns, have them perform the beat patterns on the appropriate instruments.

TIMBRE TALK

Why does each instrument have a different sound? Discuss how the sound of each instrument is created: by striking, scraping, or shaking. Can you describe each instrument sound? What’s your favorite instrument sound? Do instruments sound different from each other, like people’s voic-es? Can you tell one 5-year-old from another 5-year-old by the sound of their voices? Can you tell the difference between your dad’s voice and your mom’s voice? Or between your mom’s voice and some other mom’s voice? Every instrument and every person’s voice has a special sound that makes it different from all others. The word we use to describe the differ-ent sounds of instruments or voices is timbre. Timbre means “color”, so different instruments and voices are what make music sound colorful.

TIMBRE TANGO Click here to listen to a tango and ask kids to clap the basic rhythm. Use

Rhythm Dots or write the basic tango rhythm on the whiteboard for the class to clap. Blindfold one student. Select a rhythm instrument to play in the tango rhythm. The student names the instrument, and places the corresponding dot on the board. Other students take turns, and place their dot under the previous dot on the board. After 4 dots are on the board, the students who placed them play in turn the 2-bar tango pattern, then play it again 4 times tutti (all together). Vary the tempo, and do a slow, medium, and fast tango rhythm with the instruments. Vary the dynamics of the tango.. See Tempo and Dynamics Music-Go-Rounds below. Challenge kids to step the rhythms of the tango, with a dramatic turn to the opposite direction on the last beat of the repeated pattern.

© 2016 • Plano, Texas • 800-445-0649 • fax 972-943-8906 • www.musicmotion.com

striking

rat-a-tat-tat

shaking

rattle-rattle

RHYTHMS - Simple Time Add-On set 33/4". Set of 28 28052 p. 11

RHYTHMS - Simple Time 33/4". Set of 36 28051

scraping

ritch-ritch

124

4

2

2 2

8

1 1Both Simple Time Sets 99101

STICK RHYTHMS 3¾". Set of 20 28026 488

2

3 11

2

3 2

446

© 2016 • Plano, Texas • 800-445-0649 • fax 972-943-8906 • www.musicmotion.com

ENSEMBLE FUN

Write a simple rhythm pattern on the board. After the class is comfort-able clapping and saying aloud the rhythm, try it in ensembles. Place one instrument dot on board and that person performs the rhythm as a solo. Then add a 2nd dot, and they both perform it together as a duet. Continue with trio, quartet, quintet, sextet, septet, octet. Combine this with Ensemble dots to reinforce the musical terms.

ENSEMBLE DETECTIVE

While the rest of the class faces away from the performers, select kids to play a 4-beat pattern in different ensembles (duet, trio, quartet, etc.). Then kids put instrument dots on the whiteboard to identify the instruments they heard, then name the ensemble: duet, trio, quartet, etc.

CREATE A RHYTHM CONCERTO

Introduce the term concerto: a piece that alternates between soloists or small ensembles and the entire orchestra. Listen to a movement of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as an example of what a concerto sounds like. Ask kids to make a T sign with their arms/hands when they hear the tutti sections.

Teacher uses Rhythms or writes a simple 4 to 8-bar rhythm pattern on the whiteboard. Add Instruments to indicate instru-ment solos or ensembles. Create another measure for tutti, for the whole rhythm band to play together. Have one child conduct the rhythm concerto with a pointer, alternating between solo/ensemble parts and tutti. Have kids compose and perform their own Rhythm Concertos. Create the rhythms first on the whiteboard in 3/4 or 4/4 measures, then add

Instruments to orchestrate it. For the tutti write a T over it or use the tutti dot.

Encourage kids to try different Dynamics and Tempos, conduct their concertos, and evaluate the results.

ENSEMBLE 33/4". Set of 10 28121

DYNAMICS 33/4". Set of 10 28083

TEMPO 33/4". Set of 15 28119