Rhythm is the patterns of long and short sounds and silences. 

Rhythm is also related to tempo, the speed of the beat, and meter, how beats are grouped together.

Rhythm is what makes our bodies want to move to the beat of the music.

It inspires dance! It helps give music it's soul. WIthout it, much of the organization of music could be lost.

Rhythm is found all around us. In poetry, the ticking of a clock, language, our heartbeat, nursery rhymes, morse code, everything in life has rhythm. Think about the rhythm of the rain. Even the seasons on a larger scale have their own rhythm.

Drum circles have had a renaissance for building unity, focusing attention and heightening creativity.

There has even been some research done to validate the health benefits of drumming.

Little Einsteins has some ideas for playing and creating rhythm patterns

The relationships of note values and their corresponding rests are mathematically based. Their range is from whole note to a sixty-fourth note.

Theoretically, it is possible to have even smaller note values, but they aren't used that often and aren't that useful.

Have fun experimenting with rhythms:

Creating Music

Phil Tulga Pattern Block

Phil Tulga Morse Code

Phil Tulga Unifix

Crank It Up

Tap your feet

A good explanation and actual sound of rhythm

Great lesson plans for teaching different grade levels about rhythm.

Zoltan Kodaly developed his own rhythm teaching method, which is still widely used today.

Edwin Gordon

has developed a way to teach rhythm, among other aspects of music  

return to FrontPage