Rhythm and Beat
The beat is the pulse of the music, it is steady and regular. The rhythm is the pattern of sound and silence, usually matching the words or instruments. Watch: who is holding the beat, and who is playing a rhythm pattern?
See how the beat gets faster and faster in ‘Beep Beep‘. (This speed is the ‘tempo’ – more on it later!)
We have already been learning about using symbols to be a shortcut to an idea in our brain. We can use symbols to record our rhythms. I’ve chosen star wars characters as symbols, and in class, we’ll be matching each character to a kind of music note.
An AT-AT has great big giant feet that take a long time to move. This will represent our semi-breve, that lasts for 4 beats.
Darth Vader walks slowly and majestically. He will represent our minim, that lasts for 2 beats.
A Stormtrooper marches or jogs quickly in the imperial army. They will represent our crotchet, that lasts for 1 beat.
C3PO takes lots of little trotting steps. He will represent our quaver, that lasts for 1/2 a beat.
