Throughout my teaching career I have always devoted a small amount of time during the lesson in regards to the teaching of rhythm and beat. I have a number of materials that I have developed that I use in this respect.
I begin by establishing the use of a consistent beat when playing. Often I stress the need to have an ‘internal metronome’ that the pupil should use when playing. Hearing the music playing in your head is vital before commencing to play. And, I always reinforce the need to count in at least one before beginning to play.
In the first lessons I use some pieces of cardbaord that represent the beat. These are laid on the floor side by side and a piece of string is used to denote each bar. Beside these ‘beats’ I place the notes we are working on, such as crotchets, minims, semibreves and their respective rests. The pupils walk beside these cards to the beat whilst clapping the rhythmic pattern and counting out loud. The additional beats such as those in minims must be felt by some kind of gesture.
I also reinforce these rhythms by asking pupils to clap and count out loud the rhythm patterns in their music. In addition to this, I have booklets which use this rhythms and these can be used in their practice at home. I have a number of activities that I use at this stage of learning which I will cover at a later stage.
