#2553. Kodaly Beat Lesson

Music, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Apr 6 23:17:04 PST 2002 by Robin Sinclair (r_sinclair@universe.com).
St Joseph Academy, Mississippi USA
Materials Required: percussion instruments
Activity Time: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Concepts Taught: Kodaly - Rhythm ta titi sah

Teaching Beat with Kodaly -- (Upper Elementary School)

Here is a fun way to introduce Rythmic beat and Melodic Beat to your class. After discussing beat with your students, have them tell you their favourite nursery rhyme. Then have them clap the beat to it and have the class guess what the rhyme is.
To introduce the rest beat, have the students use small drums or other percussion instruments to play hickory dickory dock. The song goes as follows:

Hickory Dickory Dock
The Mouse ran up the Clock
The Clock Struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory Dickory Dock

The pattern of this song is as follows:

Ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta
Ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta
Ti-ti ti-ti sah sah
Ti-ti ti-ti sah sah
Ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta

Have the students play their instruments to the beat. Then have them nod their head where ever the one beat rest occurs.

Then give out sheets of paper with the song written. Have the students write in the Ta's and Ti-ti's in Kodaly notation. Then teach them the one beat rest as Sah and Z. Then have them fill in where they belong in the song.