Combine playground balls and rhythm sticks with a music lesson plan about time signatures (3/4, 4/4, and 5/4) and you get 'Meter, Meter, 3-4-5.' Always a hit!
Step 2
Tell students, "There are also patterns in music. The most common beat patterns are 3, 4 and 5. If you play an instrument, you have probably seen time signatures at the beginning of a piece of music." Write 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 on the white board. "The top number tells us how many beats there are in the pattern."
Step 3
Ask students to identify how many beats there are per pattern for each time signature.
Step 4
Tell students, "One way to discover what the meter of a piece of music is, is by looking at the time signature. It is also possible to hear patterns. In 3/4 meter the first beat is strong (loud), and the second and third beats are weak (soft)."
Step 5
Tell students, "I'm going to play a piece of music with a 3 beat pattern. We will show the 3 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on beat 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2 and 3."
Step 6
Pass out playground balls and rhythm sticks. Alternate playground ball, rhythm sticks, playground ball, rhythm sticks.
Step 7
Start recording. Ask students to show a 3 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on beat 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2 and 3 (bounce-tap-tap, bounce-tap-tap). Pass the balls and sticks every 8 measures.
Step 8
Tell students, "Now I'm going to play a piece of music with a 4 beat pattern. In 4/4 meter the first beat is strong (loud), and the second, third and fourth beats are weak (soft). We will show the 4 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2, 3 and 4."
Step 9
Start recording. Ask students to show a 4 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2, 3 and 4 (bounce-tap-tap-tap, bounce-tap-tap-tap). Pass the balls and sticks every 8 measures.
Step 10
Tell students, "The last piece of music has a 5 beat pattern. In 5/4 meter the first beat is strong (loud), and the second, third, fourth and fifth beats are weak (soft). We will show the 5 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2, 3, 4 and 5."
Step 11
Start recording. Ask students to show a 5 beat pattern by bouncing a playground ball on 1, followed by the rhythm sticks on beats 2, 3, 4 and 5 (bounce-tap-tap-tap-tap, bounce-tap-tap-tap-tap). Pass the balls and sticks every 8 measures.