Rhythm is the foundational element of music. Even if a student hits all the right notes, if the rhythm is off, the music will not sound right… That is why I tend to spend a lot of time working on rhythm with my students. I always incorporate one or two rhythm games into our bi-annual group lessons. This year was no different!
Rhythm Relay is a no-prep rhythm game that can be used in group lessons or in a classroom setting. It helps students actively apply their rhythm skills by practicing rhythm notation (both notes and rests), recognizing and internalizing rhythm patterns, hearing rhythm sequences in their minds, and accurately writing them from memory. It’s a well-rounded way to reinforce rhythm fluency in a fun and engaging way!
To play, all you will need…
are a dry erase board and a marker for each player. You could also just use sheets of paper or students’ notebooks. For my group lessons I use these dry erase keyboard/staff sheets (they are made from a cardstock-like material and are double-sided: one side is blank and the other has a keyboard and staff). They are so versatile and I use them for a wide variety of tabletop games (because they are flexible I had students place one of their piano book underneath them when writing since we were not at a table).
How to Play
- Start by giving everyone a dry erase board and marker.
- Have students spread out around the room.
- The teacher writes out a rhythm sequence and shows it to Student 1.
- Student 1 has 10 seconds (or less!) to memorize it. Students should be encouraged to hear the rhythm sequence in their heads (without making any sounds!) and look for patterns.
- Student 1 then runs over to Student 2 and writes out the rhythm sequence from memory on Student 2’s dry erase board.
- Student 2 has 10 seconds to memorize it.
- Then Student 2 goes over to Student 3 and repeats the procedure.
- Keep going until the last student is reached.
- The last student should tap out the rhythm sequence. The other students should follow along by reading the rhythm sequences on their dry erase boards.
- Do they have a match?! Students should try to correct any mistakes on their boards based on what the final student tapped.
- Compare everyone’s boards to the original board.
- If they got it correct, the students win the round. If there was a mistake on the dry erase board and the student corrected it upon hearing the rhythm sequence tapped out, it counts as a match.
Make the game more challenging by making the rhythm sequence incrementally longer and more complicated each round. Make sure to rotate the students each round so everyone eventually has a chance to be last and tap out the rhythm sequence.
For General Music Classrooms
If you are playing this game with a large number of students in a classroom setting, you can divide them into teams. Let’s say there are 3 teams. For Round 1, the teacher will create 3 different but evenly-leveled rhythm sequences.
- Team 1 is up first. Teams 2 and 3 should receive a dry erase board and a marker each.
- The teacher shows the rhythm sequence to the first student on Team 1.
- The game follows the same instructions as above.
- When it comes time for the last student of Team 1 to tap out the rhythm sequences, Teams 2 and 3 should try to write out what they hear on their dry erase boards.
- If Team 1 correctly relayed the rhythm sequence to the last student, they win 2 points.
- BUT if Team 1 got it wrong, Teams 2 and 3 have a chance to steal the points. If they correctly wrote down the rhythm sequence that the last student tapped, each team gets 1 point. If only one team wrote it down correctly, that team gets 2 points.
Please note, in the case of stealing points, the rhythm sequence will be different from what the teacher originally wrote. The dry erase boards of Teams 2 and 3 should be compared the dry erase board the last student was using to tap out the rhythm sequence.
Then it is Team 2’s turn, followed by Team 3. If playing multiple rounds, the teacher can make the rhythm sequences incrementally longer and more complicated!
- Rhythm Olympics
Students will go for gold in the Rhythm Olympics, a multi-level multi-week rhythm game! Students compete in 5 rhythm sporting events in the hopes of collecting all 5 gold medals and being crowned a Rhythm Olympics champion!!! - Don’t Miss a Beat!
This fun, multi-level game grows with your students as they learn more and more rhythms. Students will have to use their knowledge of rhythm note and rest values as well as time signatures to fill in the missing rhythms on each card. It can be played in private or group lesson settings! - Snowball Rhythm Game
Who will be able to make the longest rhythm train before the dreaded “Busted!” stick is revealed?! Kids will practice their rhythms while also practicing their aim in this fun toss game. - Sky High Love
The rhythms get longer as the heart towers get higher! Whose tower will remain standing in the end?! This adrenaline-inducing rhythm game is a great way to kick-off a lesson and get the energy up.
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