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Need Rhythm Help? Play a Game!

A quick survey of my summer students informed me that they LOVE to play video games!  Not that I didn’t know this before, it was just confirmed for me through a little research.  So while it’s so super hot this week, I’ve put together a short list of online rhythm games for music students.

Do You Have the Best Ears?

A fun little rhythm game at MusicTechTeacher.com lets students test their listening skills.  Student are shown 3 rhythm patterns.  The game plays 1 of the three rhythms and students must correctly identify which rhythm they are hearing.  They can replay the rhythm until they find a match.  This is a great game for improving your child’s aural skills (and is a big part of our ear training lessons!)

Are You A Master Sight Reader?

The Rhythm Performance Game from emusictheory.com asks students to perform a rhythm along with a steady beat.  This is a great exercise for helping students learn to keep a steady beat on their own.  For my young beginners, be sure you select “Easy” as the level and that the sounds are set to “Yes”.  Then just click away with your mouse to the written rhythm.  The game will tell you which notes were late and you can try it again until you get the correct rhythm.  How high can you score?

Are You The Fastest Note Catcher In All The Land?

MakingMusicFun.net has a fun arcade style music game where students learn to recognize a note value, catch it, and return it to the music press.  They can select the note value they would like to find then slide their octopus to catch as many as they can before the game is up.  But be careful, catch the wrong thing and your game is over!

Have fun playing the games this weekend!  (And remember that you still need to play the piano too!)

Quick Tip: A Sure Fire Way to Improve Your Rhythm Reading

Reading the rhythm of a new piece can be a real challenge.  A sure way to make it easier is to spend a few minutes of your practice time each day sight reading new rhythms. You can pull out a new piece from your lesson books or download the Rhythm Sight Reading Lesson #1 here. Choose a line, look it over, then clap the rhythm only one time.  The idea here is not to practice the rhythms to learn them, it’s to practice reading the rhythms.

Choose one line from your piece or sight reading lesson page then follow the steps below to take your sight reading to a whole new level!

*Remember: Do each of the following steps ONE TIME ONLY per practice session*

1. Do a quick look over your music line. What is your time signature? What parts look a little tricky? Do you see anything that repeats?
2. Do a verbal run through. Read through the rhythm using your rhythm words (see THIS POST for our summer rhythm word list!).
3. Play or clap the line ONE time.  How did you do?  If you made any errors, do NOT correct them now.  Make a mental note of it, and try it again tomorrow!

If you consistently practice sight reading, your skills will gradually improve over time.  If you find your rhythm is easy to sight read the first time, it’s time to pick a harder piece to sight read!

Parents: Challenge your student at each practice session with a sight reading exercise.  It can be rhythms only, or a short piece from an old book that maybe they haven’t done in a lesson.  And remember, the goal here is not to learn a new piece but to learn how to read a new piece.  Mistakes are OK and are not to be corrected – simply point out the error (or  ask your child to show you where the mistake was) and put the piece away.

Learn How To Play Rhythms With Fun Summer Words!

Counting rhythms is often one of the most difficult tasks for young musicians.  There is just so much to think about in the early stages of learning a new instrument that counting often gets overlooked.  I like to keep things simple in my studio, so that’s why we begin learning our rhythms with words instead of counting.  Once we have the rhythms down, the counting comes much easier! (and we don’t confuse finger numbers & counting numbers!)

Since we are now full force into summer, I have put together a list of summer themed words that you can use at home to help your student learn how to perform various rhythm combinations.  Simply say the words as you play or clap your notes.

For example, a line of 4 quarter notes would be counted as Beach-Beach-Beach-Beach

Or this line of half noteswould be simply SA-AND SA-AND

You can use the words to match your rhythm in your pieces (and make some silly word fun while you’re at it!)

Download this rhythm word card here and get those rhythms fixed easily!

Parents: Print out the summer themed rhythm word card and place it on the piano for your student to see during their practice time.  Help them identify any trouble spots by writing in the words above or below the rhythm.  Do not mark every rhythm – only mark those that they struggle to remember.