Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mr. Pate.

I'm looking forward to playing some great rhythms with you in today's lesson.

This unit is called "Compose and Create, Notating and Performing Using Rhythm Grids." And for this lesson we are looking at rhythm grids and the subdivision of the beat.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to decode and compose rhythm grid notation that shows the subdivision of the beat.

Here are some of the keywords that we'll be using in today's lesson.

We'll be using rhythm grids, and these are visual grid systems to represent and perform rhythmic patterns.

We'll be looking at different note durations, and the duration is the length of a sound or the length of a silence.

We'll be using different syllables, and syllable is the part of a word pronounced as one unit of sound.

For example, the word syllable has three syllables in it, syll-a-ble, so we can break each word down into its individual sounds, which are its syllables.

We'll be composing some ostinato patterns, and an ostinato is a repeating musical pattern, which could be a repeating rhythm or a repeating melody.

Finally, we've used it a few times already.

We'll be doing lots of playing and composing rhythms, and what we mean by rhythm is the pattern of sounds and silences that we play and sing.

We'll be coming back to all of these words in today's lesson.

But first, let's start with a warmup.

Before every music lesson, it's important to warm up our minds and bodies, so that we are ready to make music together.

And rhythm and pulse warmups can help us to develop our sense of timing when we're playing together, getting ourselves moving can also help us feel the pulse, which is a great skill for performing music together.

For this warmup, we are gonna be copying some four beat body percussion patterns.

Join in with this warmup.

<v ->Let's have a go at some body percussion rhythms.</v> My turn first, then your turn.

(instructor clapping and tapping) (instructor clapping and tapping) (instructor clapping and tapping) (instructor clapping and tapping) <v ->Now you've had a go at copying some four beat patterns.

</v> Can you create some of your own? Pause this video and have a go at making up some four beat body percussion patterns of your own.

So how did you do? Are you feeling ready, warmed up and ready to play together? Alex says, "I can feel the pulse." Aisha says, "I can move at the same time as others." And Lucas says, "I feel alert and ready to focus." These are all great signs that you are warmed up and ready to make music.

Here are the learning cycles for today's lesson.

We're first gonna look at reading Ta, Ta-di and Takadimi on a rhythm grid.

Then we'll be composing rhythms on a rhythm grid.

So we've said the word rhythm quite a few times already in today's lesson.

What we mean by rhythms is rhythms are created from notes of longer and shorter durations.

And what we mean by durations is how long or short the sound is.

So when we combine these things together, these longer and shorter sounds, then we create patterns, patterns of sounds and the gaps in between, the silences, and we call these rhythms. Let's have a listen to a rhythm cycle played on an instrument called the tabla.

While you are listening, I want you to think, can you hear notes of different durations, some long and some short? Which of the drums do you think plays mostly notes of shorter durations? Let's listen.

(bright tabla music) (bright tabla music continues) So now you've had a listen, what do you think? Which drum was playing mostly notes of shorter durations? The answer is the larger tabla drum, which we call the bayan.

Here's a rhythm grid.

In this rhythm grid, you can see one sound to be played on every beat.

It would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

(clapping) 1, 2, 3, 4.

In this next rhythm grids, we've got two shorter sounds in every beat, and those sounds are evenly spaced, cutting that beat exactly in half.

That would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

(clapping) 1, 2, 3, 4.

We can play both of these rhythm grids at the same time.

Let's have a listen to these rhythms being played on the djembe and the claves.

One rhythm will be played on the djembe, which is a big low drum instrument, and one will be played on the claves, which is a higher sounding wooden instrument.

I'd like you to think which instrument is playing rhythm A and which is playing rhythm B.

Let's have a listen.

<v Instructor>Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> (light rhythmic music) <v ->So what do you think? Which rhythm</v> was being played by the djembe and which was being played by the claves? The answer was rhythm A was being played on the djembe and rhythm B was being played on the claves.

Let's have a look at another rhythm grid.

For this one, each beat has been split up into four short sounds.

It'll sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

(clapping) 1, 2, 3, 4.

So each beat was split up evenly into four short sounds.

Now we can use this idea to create lots of different rhythmic patterns.

Even when there are shorter sounds in one beat, it doesn't change the tempo.

Feels really energetic there, doesn't it? With all those short sounds happening.

But the pulse was the same speed as before.

We've just divided it into more smaller sounds.

So even when we divide the beat into shorter sounds, the pulse remains the same.

Let's try playing some rhythms ourselves.

Choose a different percussion instrument or body percussion sound for each of the rhythms you see on the screen.

I'd like you to try and combine these three rhythm grids to create a fuller texture.

And the word texture is one of the elements of music that refers to the different layers present in a piece of music.

We're gonna try and perform these together and then play them with a backing track.

For each one, repeat it eight times.

Pause this video now and spend some time playing each rhythm individually, then combining them together in your group.

And finally, when you resume the video, you can play it along with the backing track.

Hopefully, you've spent some time now playing those individually, now let's play them along with the backing track.

Get ready for the count in.

Here it comes.

(bell chimes) (energetic music) By choosing where to place the dots.

We can create lots of different rhythms. Listen to these examples.

Here's the first one.

<v Instructor>Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> (rhythmic music) <v ->Here's another example.

</v> <v Instructor>Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> (rhythmic music) <v ->Finally, listen to this third example.

</v> <v Instructor>Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> (rhythmic music) <v ->So we can create lots of different rhythms</v> by just placing those dots in different places.

Here's another rhythm grid showing those 16 short sounds.

We can also write them out using notation like you can see on the bottom of the screen.

The sticks show us the four different sounds in each beat and the syllables underneath, Takadimi are ways to help us work out how those rhythms should sound.

We can use Takadimi to help us decode and perform rhythm grids successfully.

Each symbol in that rhythm grid is a different syllable in the word Ta-ka-di-mi.

The word Takadimi has four syllables, Ta-ka-di and mi.

If we remove one of the dots, then we can remove a syllable as we chant, and we put that missing syllable into our thinking voice.

So let's have a look at an example.

For this rhythm, the first beat is all of those syllables, Ta-ka-di-mi The second one is missing the mi.

So we would count Ta-ka-di and then say the mi in our heads.

The next one is all of the syllables, again, Ta-ka-di-mi.

And then finally, the last one is missing the ka.

So we would say, Ta-di-mi with the ka being in my head.

Have another listen to this rhythm performed in full.

<v ->Ready, steady, off we go.

</v> ♪ Takadimi, Takadi, Takadimi, Ta-dimi.

♪ <v ->Now we've looked at how we can use Takadimi</v> to decode and then perform rhythm grids.

It's over to you to see if you can do it either with a partner or in a small group.

You are gonna chant Takadimi to help you decode and perform these rhythm grids.

When you are happy playing them correctly, perform them using some percussion instruments or your own body percussion parts against a backing track.

When you've done this, you're gonna have a look at choosing your favorite ones to layer against each other, creating a thicker texture.

Here's the first patterns to try: pattern A, pattern B, and pattern C.

Pause this video now and try decoding each of these patterns.

Use Takadimi to help work out what they should sound like and play them either with a partner or in a small group.

Then resume the video and we'll play them along to a backing track.

Good luck.

Now you've had a go at playing them yourselves.

Try playing these rhythms along with this backing track.

(bell chimes) (light rhythmic music) Now let's try again with some different rhythms. You can now see rhythm D, rhythm E, and rhythm F.

Pause the video and try decoding and then performing these rhythms, when you've done it, resume the video and we'll play them again along to a backing track.

So now you spent some time performing these rhythms. Let's play them to a backing track.

Wait for the count in and then join in.

Here we go.

(bell chimes) (light rhythmic music) Now you've spent some time playing those rhythms, let's see if you decoded them correctly.

The rhythm for A would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Takadimi, Ta-di, Takadimi, Ta-di ♪ The rhythm B would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Ta, Takadi, Ta, Takadi ♪ Part C would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Ta-di, Ta, Takadimi, Ta ♪ Rhythm D would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Tadimi, Ta-di, Takadimi, Ta ♪ Rhythm E would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Takadi, Takadi, Tadi, Ta ♪ And finally, rhythm F would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Takami, Takami, Takami, Tadi ♪ How did you do? Next, we're gonna have a look at composing rhythms on a rhythm grid.

This 16-sound rhythm grid that we've been using can be used to compose your own four beats ostinato, and composing just means to make up a new musical idea.

You can see the beat numbers across the top, 1, 2, 3, and 4.

And can you see how they've been shaded slightly differently just to show the difference between beat one, beat two, three, and four.

The symbols in the grid show you when to play, and the empty boxes are a rest, that means a short gap.

So we're gonna compose an ostinato but what do you think I mean by an ostinato? Is it A, the patterns of sounds and silences that we play and sing? Is it B, a repeating musical pattern that could be rhythm or melody? Is it C, a silence in music of a certain amount of time? Or is it D, the regular steady heartbeat of the music? Which do you think it is? The answer is B.

An ostinato is a repeating musical pattern that can be rhythmic or melodic.

So when we are composing an ostinato, we are composing a repeating musical pattern.

For your ostinato, you can choose what symbol will represent a sound.

We went for a circle, but you can do any symbol you like.

You can choose where to place your sounds and where to have rests.

And finally, you can choose what instrument you'd like to use or what body percussion sound.

You might also want to choose the dynamics for each sound.

And remember, dynamics is a musical term that means how loud or quiet the sound is.

You could do something like darker symbols or larger symbols, meaning louder sounds.

This is challenging though, so don't change too often.

If you're doing lots of really quick sounds and they're changing quickly from loud to quiet, it can be really hard to play.

So maybe just change a few to make it easier to perform.

When you've composed your rhythms, you'll join together with some other groups to create a larger ensemble with multiple layers of sound, which is when you are creating a thicker texture.

When I say ensemble, what I mean is a group of people who perform together, like the group of students you can see here on the screen.

When we play together in an ensemble, you need to really watch and listen to each other and work as a team to perform as one group.

That's what all musicians do when they're playing together.

They really listen out, watch each other, and work together as a team.

Before we start, I've used the word texture.

What do you think I might mean by texture? Is it A, the patterns of sounds and silences that we play and sing? Is it B, the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock? Is it C, a way of writing music down? Or is it D, the combination of different layers of sound? The answer is D.

The texture refers to the different layers of sound we have going on at any one time in a piece of music.

So let's have a look at an example.

Aisha and Sam have worked together and have chanted and clapped this rhythm.

They really like it, so they have notated it on their rhythm grid to use as their ostinato.

That's their repeating musical pattern.

You can see their rhythm here written out in Takadimi patterns.

It would sound like this.

Ready, steady, off we go.

♪ Takadimi, Ta-di, Ta-di, Ta ♪ That's a great rhythm, Aisha and Sam.

I think that works really well.

You could draw that on a rhythm grid like this.

Takadimi uses all four sounds, Ta-di is split evenly in half, the thirst and the third sound.

Again, we've got Ta-di.

And finally, Ta is just the first part of that Takadimi pattern.

So that's what that sound would look like written out on a rhythm grid.

Let's see if we can match the tad rhythm to its rhythm grid.

Think about the sounds, Ta, Ta-di, and Takadi, which rhythm grids would show each of those Takadimi rhythms? Try and match those up now.

And as Lucas says, "Count the syllables to help you out." The answer is Ta, that single syllable would be just one sound in the rhythm grid.

Ta-di would be two sounds in the rhythm grid evenly spaced.

And finally, Takadi with three syllables uses three sounds in the rhythm grid.

Here's some more Takadimi patterns to try and match to their rhythm grids.

Now it's getting a little bit trickier.

Think about those syllables and think about where they're missing.

For D, E, and F, which of them would you match to which rhythm grid? The answer is D, or Ta-dimi would match to the bottom one.

We're missing a syllable in the second part of the word Takadimi.

E, or Taka-mi would be the top rhythm grid you can see.

The syllable we are missing is di, which is the third one, so we'd have a space there.

Finally, F, Takadimi uses every part of that word, so it would be four sounds in the rhythm grid, as you can see.

Now it's over to you.

With a partner, use this rhythm grid to compose a rhythmic ostinato.

Make sure you can chant and play your rhythm with a steady pulse on repeat over and over again.

It's really helpful to always include the syllable Ta.

So I'd recommend as you're writing this out to always include that first sound on every beat, ta.

But then with different patterns of Takadimi, Ta-di, Ta-dimi, Ta-mi and all the different variations we've played with today.

When you've composed your rhythm and had a go at clapping it out, you can choose a percussion instrument to play your rhythm on.

Pause the video now and spend some time composing and then practicing to play your own rhythm.

Now you've spent some time composing and playing your rhythm.

You can join in with another pair and layer your rhythmic ostinati, which is the plural of ostinato, together.

When you do this, use two contrasting sounds that might be contrasting instruments or different body percussion actions, and practicing layering them together with a steady pulse.

Now this is tricky to do, so here's some advice.

Jun says, "Chant, 'Ready, steady, off we go,' before you begin playing." That helps set the tempo and make sure that everyone starts at the same time.

Izzy says, "Watch everybody in your group and don't try to block out their sound." Can be really tempting to try and block out everyone else and just focus on your own rhythm.

But we want to hear how the rhythms fit together.

So try and play your rhythm while you are also listening to everyone else in your group.

Pause the video now and join in with another pair to layer your rhythmic ostinati together.

Finally, now you've had a go at combining two rhythms together.

Let's take it to the next level.

Join in with another two pairs and layer all of your rhythmic ostinati together.

You'll then have four different rhythms all being played at the same time, and this creates a really thick texture with lots of different layers happening at once.

When you do this, again, try and use contrasting sounds, whether that means contrasting instruments or different body percussion actions to practice playing together with a steady pulse.

Pause the video now and spend some time putting together your big performance with four different rhythms being played at once.

Now you've had some practice time.

Finally, try playing your rhythms together along with this bracken track.

(bell chimes) (light rhythmic music) (light rhythmic music continues) So how did you do? Was your performance successful? Jun says, "We composed an ostinato that I could play confidently." Izzy says, "I followed the grid carefully to make sure that I played the correct rhythm." Sam says, "As I played my ostinato, I listened to the others to help us stay together as an ensemble." These are great skills for musicians when composing and performing rhythms. In today's lesson, we've learned that notes can have shorter or longer durations, and when we combine these together, we make rhythms. We can subdivide the beat on a rhythm grid to help us decode, play, and notate, which means write out, rhythms successfully.

When we chant the word Takadimi, it can help us work out how to read and play rhythms. And when we layer different rhythmic patterns together, we create a thicker texture.

Well done for your excellent rhythmic performing in today's lesson.

I look forward to seeing you again in the next one.