Students in Grade 3 have been dribbling through Music class from March to April! Rhythm is one of the foundational pieces of music education. Rhythm is the “beat” of the music and the duration of sounds. Understanding rhythm comes from understanding the pieces that make up the beat: the long and short notes. Interacting with music is essential to brain development, so learning the elements of music is crucial to learning and growing brains!

Grade 3 students worked to understand the rhythm of two pop songs: “Beauty in the World” by Macy Gray and “Fireflies” by Owl City. After students worked to dissect the rhythm in the songs (the science of music), they worked to “feel” the rhythm in the music (the art of music). Once students could both dissect and feel the music, they were able to “play” the rhythm of the songs with basketballs! Each song was broken down into whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and quarter rests. Students also learned about repeat signs and musical bridges.

Although dribbling took a lot of ball-handling skills, students quickly found success in keeping the beat with the ball. They had to work on physical coordination with the basketball, mental dissection of the music, and the artistic element of feeling the music to be completely successful in this rhythm study. Next, students will take what they know about rhythm to produce their own musical compositions!

(Written by Melanie Cherry        Pictures by Melanie Cherry)