1. Fundamentals of Music
Pulse, Meter, & Rhythm:
Principles and Teaching Strategies

2. Pulse – 2 Concepts to Consider
• Concept #1 – “Feeling” the Pulse
– Nature and pulse-lie concepts/activities (heartbeat, clock,
walking)
• Concept #2 – Internalizing the Pulse
– Impact of playing & reading music on student ability to
maintain pulse (Multiple Mental Processes).
• Must develop both concepts by including them in the
curriculum and practicing regularly.
• Teaching Strategies must match student’s innate
musical skills, musical background, physical
maturation.

3. Exercises for Pulse Development
• Feeling the Pulse
– Tapping/Clapping to Recorded Music
• Vary tempo, meter, styles of music
– Counting Exercises
• Aloud & silently
• Hand signals (palm up/down)
• Macro Pulse versus Sub-Divided Pulse

4. Exercises for Pulse Development
• Internalizing the Pulse
– Walking in time
• Walk – 2 – 3 – 4 – Stop – 2 – 3 – 4, etc.
– Blowing air into instrument, Silent counting
• Vary counting patterns
– Air for 6, rest for 3
– Air for 3, rest for 1
– Playing to an Amplified Metronome
• The applied lesson experience

5. Foot Tapping Technique
• Controversial
– Reasons for Use
• Teacher can see that the student is conscious of pulse,
maintaining it, and aware of sub-division.
– Reasons for Not Using
• Coordination problems
• Distracting to audience and other players

6. Foot Tapping (cont’d)
• Foot Tapping Techniques
– Introduce on 1st day
– Emphasis on tapping evenly
• Muscular control for up AND down movements
– Toe or Heel – does it matter?
• Large versus small muscle coordination
– Recommendation: Use for specific situations
• Assist in pulse development
• Assist with learning new or difficult rhythms

7. Kohut’s Arrow System
• A system for counting AND foot tapping
• Emphasis on sub-division
• Arrow system
– Examples on pp. 21, 23
– Use of connected arrows for “longer” duration

8. Meter: Principles and Teaching
Strategies
• Bridge between pulse and rhythm
• Organizational system for note reading
• Common Problems: only discussing the numeric
values.
– Need a definition that works for all meters (4/4 – 2/2 –
6/8)
• Need a comprehensive definition that includes metric
variables
– Dotted rhythms
– Tied note values
– Syncopation
– Long/short & short/long sequences

9. 2 to 1 Principle
• Simple, or duple, meter is based upon this principal
• It is the essence of rhythm & the key to understanding
meter
• Establishes principle of sub-division
• Teach students the “family of notes”
• Rhythmic Notation Pattern – add one “thing”
• For your graphic organizer, utilize a “right-angle”
triangle rather than an “equilateral” triangle.
• Later, incorporate the 3 to 1 Principle for teaching
compound, or triple, meter.

10. Developing Musical Literacy
• Aural/Oral Method
• Analogy: learning a language
• 4 parts to musical literacy
– Reading
– Performing
– Writing
– Dictation

11. Rhythmic Principles: Counting Systems
• General Concepts
• Need to establish on the 1st day
• Many effective types
– Need uniform system throughout your school district
• Based upon sub-division – count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
with foot tapping & clapping of rhythm
• Apply to literature being rehearsed/performed
• Students need to write counting in difficult
excerpts

12. Rhythmic Principles: Kohut
Recommendations
• Three Counting Systems – see hand-out
– Measure counting
– Note counting
– Beat counting (p. 24 Kohut article)
– Other systems
• Stacking system
• Counting boxes
• Eastman system
• Gordon system
• Kodaly system
• Takadimi system
• Rhythmic Mnemonics

13. Dotted Values & Compound Meter
• Power of the Dot
• Counting triplets
• Counting sextuplets
• Using 12/8 to teach compound meter – no 6/8
– Family of Notes & compound meter (12/8)
– F am y
i

14. Teaching Strategies:
General Information
• Most students are “followers”.
• Include written worksheets for in-class activities
• Use a variety of exercises for teaching the SAME
rhythm
• Don’t teach rhythm strictly by ROTE
• Never count, clap, etc. WITH the students
– Teacher only provides a steady, audible pulse
• Students should Count, Clap, and Play
• Other resources:
– Winning Rhythms, by Edward Ayola
– Rhythms & Beyond, by Loest & Wimer

15. Sequence of Instruction
• A teaching strategy focused on Conceptual
Understanding
• The music teacher guides learning (improves
performance) by addressing basic concepts.
• Step #1: Identify the principle and determine the
fundamental concept.
• Increase the complexity by progressing through
“layers” of various concepts applicable to the principle.
• At each layer, students must be give the opportunity to
respond in such a way as to demonstrate
comprehension.