Rhythm Activities for Beginning Orchestra

 

My beginning orchestra is currently learning 'Medieval Wars' by Brian Balmages and students are loving it!  It's a grade 2, but I would say it's on the easy side of that grade.  The rhythms are not too difficult, but for some reason my students are struggling to count while they play.  Progress has been slow because students haven't been counting as I've been mostly drilling notes/pitch.  Last week I decided to starting reviewing rhythms and counting to help students play without getting lost.  With rhythm as our focus, students made it through the entire piece and they're learning it so much faster!

Here are some of the fun rhythm activities I've done with my students:

1.  Rhythm reading/coordination:

Since I always do a 'video of the week' on Mondays, I had students clap/count rhythms with these videos:

We talked about how we sometimes must play 2 different rhythms at the same time...one with our bow hand and one with our left hand.  For example, when playing 2 quarter notes that are slurred, the right hand plays a half note rhythm while the left hand plays the quarter notes.  This takes a great deal of coordination!  We practiced rhythm coordination with both hands using part of this video:

After we practiced with the video, I had students write their own right hand/left hand composition.  They practiced their own composition then we traded papers and students practiced each others rhythms and graded the assignment based on a few key components: 1.  Is it neat?  2. Are there 4 beats notated in every measure? 3. Is it challenging?    Students took this assignment very seriously and they enjoyed having me try to perform their compositions.  They were sure they would get me to mess up...but it turns out I'm quite coordinated.  :)

FREE PRINTABLE WORKSHEET HERE

2.  Rhythm challenges using scales.

I used the 'Around the World' rhythm game just to use the rhythm slides for this easy activity.  Students had to play a D scale and change the rhythm every time we changed pitch.  I just scrolled through the presentation while they played the scale.  It was very challenging for them to switch rhythms so quickly!

I asked the students if the entire orchestra HAS to play the same rhythm in order to stay together.  Most said yes - we must always play the same rhythm.  We then experimented with scales and discovered half of the orchestra could play a D scale using 2 half notes per pitch while the other half of the orchestra could play at the same time with 4 quarter notes per pitch.  We discussed how each section can play their own rhythms in our music, but must count carefully for the rhythms to line up - like a puzzle.  I projected my score to Medieval Wars on screen for students to see different rhythms in each section and how the rhythms were supposed to fit together.

3.  Rhythm Dictation

I've done dictation with students before, but this time I made a quick NearPod for students to draw the rhythms they hear.  I liked using NearPod because it allowed me to see student responses right away. I was easily able to identify students who needed help.  I was in a hurry when I made the audio files for the rhythms so they're kind of low quality...but it works! 

You can access and edit the nearpod HERE.

4.  Rhythm Detective Game - variation

I've used the Rhythm Detective game in my classes before and students have always enjoyed it, but I changed the game a little bit to make it more applicable to drilling specific rhythms.  I found tricky rhythms from our concert music and had students repeat the one measure of rhythm over and over in different ways as determined by the 'leader.'  For example, clapping, stomping, snapping, sliding their hands, tapping their cheeks, patting their heads, etc. The class repeated the rhythm and copied the leader while the detective tried to figure out who the leader was.  My class practiced rhythms over and over again...hardly realizing they were drilling concert music.  It was such a hit with my beginning classes I used the same game in my intermediate class to help them drill a few rhythms from 'The Code," by Silva. 

5.  Rhythm Telephone

This is the first time I've tried this game and it went so well!  I LOVE it!  I found the idea on this website.   I put away all the music stands and had students sit in 4 long rows.  I showed a simple rhythm to the students on the end of each row.  They then had to tap that rhythm on the shoulder of the person sitting in front of them...and so on...until the rhythm reached the other end.  The student at the far end then had to write the rhythm.  Teams got a point if the rhythm was correct.  I then had students rotate...so every student eventually had the opportunity to sit at each end of the line.

6.  Rhythm Self-Assessment

I used this assessment to help students determine their level of ability in reading/counting rhythms.  It was good for students self-assess their skills because it made them more motivated and willing to work hard to improve and get to the highest level.

Free assessment for beginning rhythm and notereading HERE.

Battleship game for String Orchestra

 

Are you looking for a super fun game you can play with your orchestra students that won't take much time to prepare?   Try BATTLESHIP!  This game works great to review any type of music students have been learning.  It's very simple to play and students love it!

Here's how to play...

1.  Choose your music.  I chose one of our concert pieces, but you can use exercises from method books or anything you like.

2.  Project your gameboard on screen.  I quickly made a gameboard using JAMBOARD.  You can use my game board.. you just have to click the 3 dots at the top of the screen...then click MAKE A COPY.  

MAKE YOUR COPY HERE

3.  Each section of the orchestra is a team.  Each team gets to fire a torpedo at any other section of the orchestra class by calling out one measure (you could do between 1-3 measures) from the music they have to play.  If the section plays the music in tune and in time with correct bowing, the torpedo is a MISS.  If the section does not play the measure correctly, it's a HIT and I move a little explosion icon on top of their ship on the gameboard.  Any team who gets 3 hits goes down in flames.

A FEW NOTES:

*When playing this in class, we rotated turns between sections:  bassess, cellos, violas, 2nds, then 1sts.  Game play continued in this way until the students sunk a few ships.  I allowed sunk teams to still fire torpedos at other sections so they could continue to participate.

*Before starting the game, I had my orchestra play the music we were using in the game so they could 'spy' on other sections to find measure where they could fire some torpedos.

My students are already asking to play this game again!  It was a great way for them to review tricky measures and find places that still need practice.