Beginner
Rhythm Games
 Rhythm-Talk
Teach your child that every spoken language has its
own unique beat, and within every sentence, music
can be found. If you can say it, you can play it!
Show your child how to clap, rattle, tap, clap, or
drum the rhythm of the following phrases:
All
aboard!
Calling all cars! Calling all cars!
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Listen to the clock: tick-tock, tick-tock.
Hey, diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
the cow jumped over the moon.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck
could chuck wood?
For more variety, try reading sentences aloud from
their favorite books, or phrases from their favorite
songs!
 Rhyme
and Rhythm
- Submitted by Rosalie Brown-Lundh
of Tigard, Oregon
Once
a child has mastered playing along to a nursery rhyme
with the Rhythm Talk exercise, encourage them to only
"think" the poem silently while playing
along.
This activity can be made more challenging by teaching
a child to isolate the rhyming words in a poem and
to "punctuate" them with a percussive sound.
For example, the rhyming words in Little Bo Peep ("sheep"
and "peep", or "alone" and "home")
can be accented with the jingle from an LP RhythMix
Jingle Stick.
In
a group, create a small section of kids to "think"
a poem on drums, and then add different instruments
with a child playing one instrument for the "-eep"
words (try the LP RhythMix Wow Earth Bell!), and another
instrument to the "-one" words (try the
LP RhythMix Triangle!). Keep it interesting by asking
the children to exchange instruments, and do it all
again with everyone playing new parts!
 Rhythmic
Dialogs
Combine
a variety of percussive sounds to create lively
rhythms. Start a dialog between the different sounds-
try a call and response, back-and-forth, back-and-forth
approach. Coach your child to think of the rhythmic
responses as “conversations” that go
in a repetitive cycle. Recite the following conversation
aloud and ask your child to beat, shake, clap,
or jingle along to the rhythm:
Three fast beats: How are you? (1,2,3)
One slow beat: Fine. (1)
Three beats: How are you? (1,2,3)
One beat: Fine. (1)
Three beats: How are you? (1,2,3) Etc.
Once
they are comfortable with this simple “conversation”,
you can progress to something like this:
Three fast beats: How are you? (1,2,3)
One slow beat: Fine (1)
Two fast beats: ...and you? (2)
Three fast beats: How are you? (1,2,3)
One slow beat: Fine (1)
Two fast beats: ...and you? (2) Etc.
 Rhythmic
Follow the Leader
The much-loved game of “Follow
the Leader” takes on a whole new educational
edge when rhythm is thrown into the mix! This exercise
is easy and amusing, and can be adjusted for players
of all levels. Clap a simple rhythm with your hands
and encourage your child to mimic you as they beat
a drum, shake a shaker, or even “clap” one
of the Eggheads.
Here are a few suggestions, but remember that the
options are endless!
Start off by simply counting "1 an 2 an,"
slowly and evenly.
Follow
the graph below. Clap at the appropriate count as
shown in the corresponding block. Repeat.
| 1 |
an |
2 |
an |
1 |
an |
2 |
an |
1 |
an |
2 |
an |
| Clap |
 |
Clap |
|
Clap |
|
Clap |
|
Clap |
|
Clap |
|
| 1 |
an |
2 |
an |
1 |
an |
2 |
an |
1 |
an |
2 |
an |
| Clap |
Clap |
Clap |
|
Clap |
Clap |
Clap |
|
Clap |
Clap |
Clap |
|
A
slightly more advanced version of this exercise is
to hide your hands when clapping, training the child
to rely solely on sound. This is a great way to encourage
focused listening skills.
Another variation puts the child in charge, promoting
their self-confidence and leadership qualities. When
they become comfortable enough to create their own
rhythms, you can clap along and mimic their rhythmic
performance.
The
Rhythmic Memory Game
 Once
a child has learned to listen for the rhythm in recorded
music, the well-known game of Memory (with a new rhythmic
twist!) is a natural next step. When you can hear
that the child is successfully mimicking the rhythm
in the piece, stop the music and encourage the child
to continue playing solo for as long as he can. No
matter how “perfectly” they perform, congratulate
them for a job well done! Gaining self-confidence
is as important (or more so!) than percussive excellence.
With practice playing along with their favorite tunes,
it is only a matter of time before they can recall
the rhythmic parts without first hearing the whole
piece.
Music
is a language, but a language of the intangible,
a kind of soul-language.
-Edward MacDowell
(American composer and pianist, 1861 - 1908)
CLICK
HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF LP RHYTHMIX INSTRUMENTS!
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