We’ve been having fun using the new Heartbeat Rhythms music dictation game in both group classes and private piano lessons the last couple of weeks!
For group class, I gave each student a copy of the pulse sheet and had piles of the note value hearts in the middle that they could utilize. I played a 4-beat pattern on the piano and then they had to replicate it as a row of rhythm on their pulse sheet. Even though they are each working individually, it’s also cool to see collaboration between them as one of them hums the pattern, assisting the others in remembering it more accurately.
One of my little guys also had a great time playing this rhythmic dictation game at the end of his lesson. At first he was confused by the half note taking up two hearts and asked me if we could cut it in half! Perfect time to reinforce the concept of what it means that a half note gets 2 of the heartbeats in 4/4 time. This is one of the reasons I love utilizing games in my teaching; they are so useful for both assessing students’ understanding and reinforcing various concepts. You think they understand the value of a half note until they ask to cut it in half while playing a rhythmic dictation game!
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