Lesson Plans:

• Experimental Music
• We’ve Got Rhythm
• Good Vibrations

We’ve developed core tools around the concepts of chords, frequency, and rhythm in partnership with Indaba Music. These tools incorporated in the lesson plans can also be appreciated on their own! Feel free to check out these fun interactives below.

Learn about basic chord stucture:

Learn about frequency and how it manifests in sounds the sounds around us:

Learn about how rhythm can manifest itself in the environment:

2) Then demonstrate how to make a non-syncopated rhythm by selecting an animal and then clicking on the 1st and 3rd beats of each measure for that animal. Then press “PLAY” to reveal the syncopated rhythm.

3) Click on several animals for the 1st and 3rd beats of each measure to demonstrate how to layer sound.

4) Ask your students for suggestions on what you could do to create a syncopated rhythm. (In one or two measures, move the emphasis to the 2nd or 4th beat to create an unexpected change from the existing pattern.) Work together with your students to create a simple syncopated beat.

5) Divide your students into small groups of 2-3 students and instruct each to create their own rhythms. If possible, ask the students to log onto the Rhythm Sequencer to create their own rhythms. If students do not have access to computers, encourage them to create rhythms using clapping, tapping, snapping and/or simple rhythm instruments. Remind students that their rhythms need to have a repeating pattern.

6) Encourage students to experiment with a variety of sounds and rhythms. Ask each group to create two rhythms to which they can dance. One should be a syncopated rhythm and one a very steady, predictable beat.

7) After students have created their rhythms, ask for volunteers to share their works with the rest of the class.

2) FRAME the first video segment by explaining that the students are going to watch a video clip that discusses ways that our breathing, pulse and movements can be helped by music. Provide a FOCUS by asking students to find out ways that the rhythm of music can be used in hospitals to help patients.

3) PLAY Video Segment 1, “Healing Rhythms.” FOLLOW UP by asking students to discuss ways that the rhythm of music can be used to help patients. (Music is used to steady the breathing of premature babies. In hospitals, music is used to steady the heartbeats of cardiac patients. The walking of Parkinson patients can be improved if their actions are accompanied by music.)

4) Ask students why they think that music can help Parkinson’s patients improve their walking? (There appears to be a strong connection between the auditory and motor regions of the brain, which can help explain why music can help to improve motor skills of Parkinson’s patients. Music seems to engage the motor system.)

5) Remind students that the previous clip mentioned that everyone, including children and people not trained in music, will begin to rhythmically move or dance when hearing music. Ask if anyone knows the term that means “moving in time to a beat.” (Synchronization.)

6) FRAME the next segment by explaining that you are now going to show a video clip that looks at synchronization and whether or not the ability to synchronize to music is unique to humans. Provide a FOCUS by asking students to make predictions about whether or not they think other species can move in time to a beat.

7) PLAY Video Segment 2, “Synchronization.” FOLLOW UP by discussing the segment. Ask your students what they think now about whether other species can synchronize to music. (At least one bird- Snowball- can.) Lead a discussion about the segment. During the discussion, explain that the ability to synchronize to a beat is not commonly observed in non-human species.

8 ) Optional: Tell your students that it is now time to celebrate the ability to synchronize. Play a song and ask your students to move to the beat.

2) Demonstrate how to play the game, by picking up one of the objects (for example, a pen). Show the object to the person immediately to your right (person 2), while saying: “This is a pen.” The person to your right should respond: “A what?”
The dialogue then continues as follows, with you as person 1:
Person 1: A pen
Person 2: A what?
Person 1: A pen
Person 2: Oh, a pen

Person 2 then takes the pen and then gives it to the person immediately to his or her right in the same manner as described above:
Person 2: “This is a pen”
Person 3: A what?”
Person 2: A pen
Person 3: A what?
Person 2: A pen
Person 3: Oh, a pen
Person 3 then takes the pen and gives it to the person to the right.

3) Ask students to continue passing the pen around the circle until it gets back to you. Then explain that now you are going to make it a little harder and start passing around more things.

4) Pass the pen to the person to your right, as described above. Then, right after person 2 says, “Oh a pen” and grabs the pen, start passing object # 2, as follows:
Person 1: This is a book
Person 2: A what?” (Person 2 looks at you when saying “a what?”)
Person 1: A book (Person 2 looks away from you and says “a pen” to person 3, as you say “a book.”)
Person 2: A what?
Person 1: A book
Person 2: Oh, a book
At this point, person 2 takes the book and then begins passing it, in the same manner to person 3.

5) Continue the game, by initiating a new object each time you pass the previous object. Stop adding a new object once everyone has an object in their hands. Continue playing the game, by continuing to have everyone pass the objects around the circle in the manner described above.

6) In order to emphasize the rhythm involved in this activity, once students have become comfortable with the game, ask them to continue passing the objects, while saying “la, la, la, la” instead of words (using the same rhythm as before). For example,
La la la la
La la?
La la
La la?
La la
La, la la!

7) Next, have your students put down the objects and continue the same rhythm, by saying “la, la, la…” and clapping to the beat.

8 ) After clapping to the beat for a few minutes, ask students to stop and comment on their thoughts about the game. Ask students what made the game challenging? (They had to say the words and pass the objects, while sticking to the rhythm.) Discuss what this activity has in common with music. (There is a specific rhythm.)

9) Ask students to brainstorm other games that also rely on rhythm. (Concentration, are you ready?; patty cake; jump rope; dance, dance revolution, etc.)

10) Ask students to define rhythm. (A repeating pattern organized in time; the organization of sound in time.) Divide students into groups and ask each group to think about rhythms in one of the following categories:

• rhythms in nature
• rhythms in the body
• rhythms in machines

11) Lead a discussion about the different types of rhythms:

• rhythms in nature (waves in the ocean; raindrops falling)
• rhythms in the body (heart beat, breathing, walking, etc.)
• rhythms in machines (rhythm of trains, cars, etc.; jackhammers; washing machines; clocks; swings; pendulums; see saws, etc.)

12) Explain that this lesson is all about rhythm. Let your students know that during the lesson they are going to explore how humans create and respond to rhythm and will also create their own rhythms.

2) Synchronization
An introduction to synchronization with neurobiologist Aniruddh Patel and a look at a bird moving to music:

3) Syncopation
An introduction to syncopation with musician Bobby McFerrin and scientist Daniel Levitin:

Grade level: 5-8

Topic/Subject Matter: Music

Time Allotment: Two to three 45-minute class periods

Overview: THE MUSIC INSTINCT showcases the research and discovery process of scientists whose work focuses on the interrelationship between music and science. Music is a topic that is very accessible and familiar to young people, and can be used as a topic for simple experiments that students design. In this lesson, students will explore the ways in which humans create and respond to rhythm, using examples from THE MUSIC INSTINCT as a guide.

The lesson begins with a fun game that challenges students to maintain a steady rhythm. Students will then brainstorm ways in which rhythm is present in their body and the world around them. In the Learning Activities, students will view segments from the MUSIC INSTINCT program and examine ways that hospitals are using music and rhythm to help patients. Students will learn about synchronizing to music (moving in time to a beat) and reflect upon whether this is a uniquely human skill. Students will then view a clip of a cockatoo synchronizing to music. Students will then learn about syncopation and view a video segment illustrating a syncopated beat. Students will then explore an interactive where they try to identify syncopated and non-syncopated rhythms. The lesson ends with students experimenting with rhythm and creating their own syncopated and non-syncopated rhythms using their hands, feet, simple rhythm instruments and/or an online interactive featuring animal sounds.