Lesson plans for four activities that encourage students to hear meter and move to meter in music, and to relate heard meter to notated time signature.
Introduction
Children do not have to learn to read music in order to recognize meter. In fact, a child who is already comfortable with the concept (and feel) of meter may have less trouble learning to read music, follow a
conductor , and understand
written notes and
time signatures . For definitions and other information on meter, please see
Meter in Music . The activities below include
Listen for Meter ,
Sing with Meter ,
Dance with Meter , and
Recognize Meter in Time Signature
Goals and assessment
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Goals - The student will recognize specific meters in aural examples of music, and will demonstrate meter actively by appropriate clapping, vocalization, and/or movement, or by identifying a likely time signature.
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Music Standards Addressed -
National Standards for Music Education standard 6 (listening to, analyzing, and describing music), and (for
Recognize Meter in Time Signature only) 5 (reading and notating music).
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Other Subjects Addressed - The activity also addresses
National Dance Standards standard 1 (identifying and demonstrating movement elements and skills in performing dance), 2 (understanding the choreographic principles, processes, and structures)
Listen for meter
Objectives and assessment
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Grade Level - preK (if developmentally ready) - 12
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Student Prerequisites - Students should be able to accurately identify and clap along with the beat of a piece of music.
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Teacher Expertise - The teacher should be familiar and comfortable with the terms and concepts regarding
meter , and should be able to accurately and easily identify heard meter.
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Time Requirements - If you have many different musical examples, and will also be exploring simple and compound meters, this activity may take one (approximately 45-minute) class period. It may also be done as a short (5-15-minute) warm-up to other music activities or as a break from desk work.
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Objectives - Given an aural example of music, the student will clap to the beat, distinguish weak from strong beats, and clap only on strong beats. The student will identify the meter of the music by determining the number of weak beats for every strong beat.
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Extensions - Advanced students may be asked to distinguish heard beat subdivisions by vocalizing with them, and to identify whether the meter is simple or compound. For students who are learning to read music, see
Recognize Meter in Time Signatures .
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Evaluation - During the activity, assess whether each student can do the following independently (without waiting to imitate the teacher or other students), along with others, in direct imitation of others, or not at all: clap on the beat, clap only on the strong beats, count the number of weak beats for each strong beat, vocalize with the beat subdivisions, and name the meter. If students are not at the level you would like, repeat the activity occasionally throughout the year.
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Follow-up - Help commit these lessons to long-term memory, by continuing throughout the year to ask students to identify the meter of music that they are hearing or learning.
