Thursday, March 12, 2009

It's tht time of year. Dotted quarter- eighths

It's that time of year. Dotted quarter- eighths.
It is a math thing.  My brother, the math teacher, would say "of course it is hard.  It is a compound fraction."  I would add this is another example of dividing and adding the invisible.  Music and math.  Always together.
There is some work to do ahead of time.  Teach subdivision first.  Whatever counting system you use, make sure they have a good handle on the eighth notes and tying them together.
For your visual learners, the cursor in SmartMusic shows the beat and the note change to the eighth note.  Not only can you follow the cursor for the notes, you get the beats as well.  I pointed this out on the big monitor to the kids and I got a few more kids saying, "oh, I get it!"
Worth a look,  Hope this helps you.

2 comments:

Doug said...

The other thing I tell my students is that the rhythm is the same as the words to "My country 'tis of thee." The rhythm being on "'tis of thee". That has seemed to work wonders for some students.

Unknown said...

Doug!

Thanks for the comment.

Sorry I am responding so slow as we were on vacation last week. We are back at it today and I am looking forward to using your technic this week.

There must be tons of rhythms that are in the heads of these kids. Or I hope there are. (Parents, are your singing to your kids?) We can use these for all the "tricky" rhythms.