Engineering a Drumbeat Reversed: An Educational Approach for Music Instructors
Hey there, musos! Here's an intriguing, engaging lesson plan for spicing up your music class - reverse-engineering a drumbeat. It's perfect for students aged 11-16 and can be smashed out in 60 minutes, sweet!
If you ain't already familiar, the 6th to 10th graders in your class are learnin' more than just notes on a page and how to play an instrument. They're soakin' up the rhythmic lifeblood that pulses through every tune - you feelin' me? This lesson is gonna help 'em comprehend that beat in a hands-on, interactive way.
The key ingredient for this lesson is the Musicca Drum Machine, or another dope drum machine of your choice. And guess what? The Ultimate Free Music Tech Resources Guide'll hook you up with it (or somethin' just as cool) for free! Just click this link - *Grab Your Free Copy Now!*
Objective
Our aim with this lesson is to get students hooked on beats and rhythm through interactive exploration. 'Gonna listen to rhythm examples, ID the parts, and use the drum machine to replicate those sweet beats they heard. That way, they'll understand the role different drum components play in craftin' a beat, plus they'll collaborate with their peers, compare beats, and perfect their own compositions.
Materials
Before you dive in, here's a lowdown on the materials you'll need:
- Lesson plan (Download Now)
- Computers with sound and internet access
- Headphones for the students
- Pencils
- Rhythm track samples (check out our cool community or create your own!)
- Student worksheets (found in our community or make your own)
Creating Rhythm Track Samples
To create these tracks, you gotta record a slew of rhythmic patterns from the Musicca Drum Machine (or your fav drum machine). Bonus points if you add a click-track or metronome to the track in audio editing software (any ol' thing like GarageBand, Soundtrap, Bandlab, Audacity - no problems there). short on time? Join our awesome community and grab the samples and worksheets already done for ya - more about how to join below.
Get the Full Lesson Pack in the Midnight Music Community
If you want ready-made rhythm audio samples and worksheets, they're all included in the Midnight Music Community membership (Find out More Here)!
In the pack you'll score:
- Level 1 Worksheets with 3 percussion lines + a combined final drumbeat
- Level 2 Worksheets with 6 percussion lines + a final drumbeat combo
- Answers for both worksheet sets
- Nifty audio samples for all individual percussion lines (with a click-track)
- Combined audio tracks for both drumbeat patterns
MMC Members: Click here to access the lesson pack!
Time to Roll!
First up, we introduce reverse engineering, and boom! - boom! - students are now equipped to audiate (yeah, that's a word) and boost their active listenin' skills. To get the ball rollin', students'll listen to the initial rhythm sample (MP3) and pay close attention to on-beat/off-beat, sequences, and repetitions. They're then encouraged to mess around with the Musicca Drum Machine to replicate the sample rhythm they just heard.
When the first rhythm's been successfully recreated, students partner up to share their ear candy and beat creations. Then we discuss the different patterns and techniques students used, plus some troubleshootin' tips for when they hit a wall.
The Solo Act
Students then crack on with the remaining examples, goin' it solo or in duos. After they've finished their worksheets, they fashion a master grid to include all the percussion lines they discovered and power through a final version on the drum machine that ties it all together.
Test Time
The lesson wraps up with an assessment where students transcribe their final drum pattern onto music sheets and crank it out on a nearby drum set or keyboard. We then have a lively chat about the differences between the patterns they whipped up.
Bonus Round: Extra Juicy
For an added challenge, students can notate their percussion lines into traditional notation using single-line percussion staves or 5-line drum set notation. You can knock this out in any note software you fancy (Finale, Sibelius, Noteflight, Flat, etc.).
Wrapping Up
The lesson ends with a discussion about students' listenin' and recreatin' journey, where we discuss those far-out on-beat/off-beat concepts, the percussion instruments' timbre, the easiest lines to master, and whether the click-track was a total help or an annoyin' hindrance.
That's our recipe for a lesson that moves beyond note-readin' and instrument playin' to the juicy underbelly of rhythm. Wanna chat about this lesson or anything else music tech-related? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Honors and Hats off
This lesson plan's courtesy of Katrina Proctor, Content Manager at Midnight Music. She's formerly a music educator from Colorado, USA. Proctor taught middle school music for nearly a decade, her passion liein' with low-income students in Title 1 schools. She's taught 5th-8th grade choir, advanced choir, piano, general music, band, and orchestra. She's bagged a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education & Master's Degree in Music Education-Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Connect with Katrina on Facebook and her website, She The Teacher.
Want More Excellent Music Tech Resources?
Let's hear it for Katie Argyle, an Australian music tech trainer and consultant who's got a passion for helpin' teachers throuuuugh her biz Midnight Music.
Katie's a qualified teacher, but she ain't currently teachin' in a school. She helps teachers through her online professional development space - the Midnight Music Community - where there's a treasure trove of tutorial videos, courses, links, and downloadable resources.
Katie focuses on simplified ways to incorporate technology into the music curriculum through a slew of creative projects. She's also run workshops galore and spoke at countless music education events.
If you're keen to learn simple, effective techniques for tech in music education, Katie's got somethin' cool inside the Midnight Music Community for ya.
Get More and Take a Peek Inside!
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- This lesson in music education is designed for students aged 11-16, focusing on professional development and interactive understanding of rhythm in music.
- The objective of the lesson is to engage students with beats and rhythm through hands-on exploration, identifying and replicating rhythm samples using a drum machine.
- Essential materials needed for the lesson include a downloadable lesson plan, computers with sound and internet access, headphones, pencils, rhythm track samples, and student worksheets.
- Traditional rhythm track samples can be created by recording various rhythmic patterns from a drum machine, such as the Musicca Drum Machine, and adding a click-track or metronome using audio editing software.
- For convenience, rhythm audio samples and worksheets are available in the Midnight Music Community membership for a fee.
- Students will initially listen to an initial rhythm sample, analyze on-beat, off-beat, sequences, and repetitions, and reproduce the rhythm using a drum machine.
- After recreating the initial rhythm, students will collaborate with peers, share their creations, and discuss various techniques and patterns used.
- Students will then work on the remaining examples either individually or in pairs, fashion a master grid, and create a final drumbeat combining all percussion lines.
- The lesson will finish with an assessment where students will transcribe their final drum pattern onto music sheets and perform it on a drum set or keyboard.
- As a bonus challenge, students can notate their percussion lines into traditional notation using single-line percussion staves or 5-line drum set notation.
- The lesson encourages critical discussion of active listening, on-beat/off-beat concepts, timbre of percussion instruments, ease of mastering various lines, and the usefulness of the click-track.
