Learning Activity

Composing With Dice: Rhythm

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

6

Overview

Many people find the hardest part of composing music is getting started. This lesson will describe an engaging activity where students will use a die to select the rhythmic values of their next musical composition. First, rhythmic values of notes/rests are assigned to the six numbers of a typical six-sided die. Next, the students will access a virtual die (or use a real one) and roll it. Then, they will draw the note/rest value on staff paper (or use digital notation software) using standard notation. The student or teacher will then decide on a time signature and the student will add bar lines to the string of note/rest values. Finally, the student will perform the rhythm on an instrument (musical instrument or body percussion).

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 6 - Music

AE17.MU.6.3

Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or audio/video recording to document personal simple rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and two chord harmonic musical ideas.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.6.3

Vocabulary

Rhythm
Melody
  • Pitch set: La- centered diatonic (minor)
  • Clef reading (diatonic)
  • Octave
  • Unison/ harmony
Harmony
  • Polyphonic
  • 2-part songs
  • 3-part songs
  • Descant
  • Bass clef
  • Accompaniment
Form
  • AB form
  • ABA form
  • Form
  • Canon
  • Composer
  • Composite forms
Expression
  • Tone Quality
  • Articulation
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (G3-G5)
  • Historical periods

Essential Questions

EU: Musicians' creative choices are influenced by their expertise, context, and expressive intent.
EQ: How do musicians make creative decisions?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Perform original music that adheres to a simple formal structure.
Creating
  • Describe distinguishing characteristics of music forms (e.g., verse-refrain, AB, ABA, rondo, canon, theme and variation) from various cultures and historical periods.
  • Compose an eight-measure melody based on a diatonic scale using familiar rhythmic patterns.
  • Create movement to illustrate the form of a composition.
Reading/ Writing
  • Identify instruments used in Western and world music ensembles.
  • Identify different functions and uses of music in American and other cultures.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Distinguish between and among the use of dynamics, meter, tempo and tonality in various pieces through active listening.
  • Describe roles and skills musicians assume in various cultures and settings.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 6 - Music

AE17.MU.6.9

Read and identify by name or function standard symbols for rhythm, pitch, articulation, and dynamics.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.6.9

Vocabulary

Rhythm
Melody
  • Pitch set: La- centered diatonic (minor)
  • Clef reading (diatonic)
  • Octave
  • Unison/ harmony
Harmony
  • Polyphonic
  • 2-part songs
  • 3-part songs
  • Descant
  • Bass clef
  • Accompaniment
Form
  • AB form
  • ABA form
  • Form
  • Canon
  • Composer
  • Composite forms
Expression
  • Tone Quality
  • Articulation
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (G3-G5)
  • Historical periods

Essential Questions

EU: Analyzing creators' context and how they manipulate elements of music provides insight into their intent and informs performance.
EQ: How does understanding the structure and context of musical works inform performance?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Play melodies on the recorder within an octave range, using a pleasing tone quality, both independently and collaboratively.
  • Demonstrate proper posture, hand position and embouchure for playing the recorder.
  • Demonstrate proper pitch control of notes in the lower register of the soprano recorder.
  • Play two-part and three-part recorder arrangements.
  • Perform a varied repertoire of music representing diverse cultures with appropriate dynamics and tempo.
  • Play a variety of classroom instruments, independently or collaboratively, with increasingly complex rhythms and melodic phrases.
  • Demonstrate a characteristic sound while singing unison or two-part songs.
  • Sing descants to produce harmony.
Creating
  • Demonstrate rhythmic augmentation and diminution in a familiar tune.
  • Improvise, compose and arrange music.
Reading/ Writing
  • Read, write, perform, and compose rhythm patterns and simple melodies in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Identify members of the recorder family, including soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
  • Identify the difference between duple and simple meter.
  • Identify irregular meters such as, 7/8 and 5/4.
  • Respond appropriately to the cues of a conductor.
  • Attend live performances and demonstrate appropriate audience etiquette.
  • Describe the characteristics used by the composer in a selected musical example to create a mood or effect.
  • Recognize I, IV, and V chords in the context of a piece of music.
  • Identify composite forms, such as, opera, oratorio, and musical theatre.
  • Identify polyphonic texture.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.

Phase

Before/Engage
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

Students will

  • identify and apply note and rest symbols
  • organize note/rest values into metric patterns determined by the time signature
  • perform a simple rhythm from standard notation

Activity Details

Opening Strategy

  • the teacher will show the students various note and rest symbols and ask about each symbol's duration
  • the teacher will show the students a six-sided die and ask if the students had ever played a game such as Yahtzee that uses dice
  • the teacher will explain that the students are going to use the die to determine the note/rest values for their new composition
  • the teacher will direct the students to the Roll a Die website so that the students can practice rolling the die
  • the teacher will assign note and rest values to each number on the die. For example, one dot might be a quarter note, and two dots might be a quarter rest. (Teachers can customize these assignments to fit the expertise of their students. Beginners might use quarter notes while more advanced students could use sixteenths.)
  • the students will access a virtual die (or use a real one) and roll it. Then, they will practice drawing the note/rest value on staff paper (or use digital notation software) using standard notation. 

Core Strategy

  • the students will roll the die 10 times and notate the results
  • the teacher will ask the students if anything is missing
  • the teacher will provide a short explanation of meter and the groupings that are indicated by the time signature
  • the teacher will select a time signature (4/4) and ask the students to draw bar lines to indicate the groupings of note values
  • the teacher will ask the students to copy their original rhythmic pattern (without bar lines)
  • the teacher will select another time signature (3/4) and ask the students to draw bar lines to indicate a different grouping of note values

Closing Strategy

  • the students will practice playing their rhythm (a) without bar lines, (b) with the 4/4 time signature, and (c) with the 3/4 time signature
  • the teacher will ask the students which of the three choices was the best fit for their rhythmic pattern
  • the students will provide reasons for their choice
Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

Students will send their music notation work to their teacher as email attachments if it is in a digital format, or, hand-in hard copies.

Teachers will

  • evaluate the student's ability to draw standard notation symbols
  • determine if bar lines were put in the right places for the prescribed time signature
  • evaluate the student's performance of the rhythm for accuracy
  • assess the quality of a student's rationales for choosing a particular time signature for their rhythm

 

Variation Tips

The teacher decides which rhythmic values are assigned to the numbers of the die. These values can be simple or complex depending on the expertise of the students.

In another variation, the students would create their own die from a printed template and draw numbers or the note/rest symbols on each side. 

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

Materials for this lesson are

  • Internet access or real dice
  • Music notation software or blank staff paper
  • Musical instruments or body percussion

Digital Tools / Resources

Roll a Die
http://rolladie.net

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

mzelenak
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