Wednesday, February 22, 2012

METER/BEAT




I use this activity with my daughter who is taking Suzuki violin, but it could very well work for a classroom.  You could substitute bowls with plastic cups, plastic containers, etc.  Set up the bowls (3 different sizes for triple meter or 4 for duple meter) largest to smallest or according to timbre.  For instance, I will make the first bowl a plastic tupperware container so that beat one is accented through timbre.  Then while she listens to the music, she taps the beat on each bowl with a wooden spoon.  This promotes parallel listening, not passive.  My son even likes to jump in and play while she plays violin!  If you are a music teacher, you could have students evaluate steady beat/tempo during recorder (or any other instrument) performances!  The original idea came from Sarah Bylander Montzka's video on the Parents as Partners Suzuki website.  I modified it to work for me :)