Intermediate Rhythms: Dotted Rhythms

Summary

This lesson is about dotted rhythms – students will learn the meaning of a dot in rhythm, determine the length of a dotted quarter note, learn to clap dotted quarter notes, and find them in a song. For additional learning about the dotted eighth note and more complex dotted rhythms, students can take the chatbot class “Intermediate Rhythms: Dotted Notes” as a homework.

⏰ Time: 45 min

🎓 Grades: 5-12

🎯 Objective(s): As a result of this lesson students will know and/or be able to...

• Understand the meaning of dots in rhythm
• Building dotted quarter notes and eighth notes
• Clapping dotted quarter notes
• Recognizing dotted notes in songs

💡 Required Prior Knowledge and Skills:

• Simple Rhythms
• Basic Rhythm Pyramid

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to WIFI

Visual presentation

Song suggestions:

A cover of
Don't Start Now
DUA LIPA

A cover of
Blank Space
TAYLOR SWIFT

A cover of
Timebomb
WALK THE MOON

Start of your lesson

🕐 5 min - Set up the classroom

• Log into Solfeg.io;
• Load your chosen song;
• Find the part of the song you want to play for your students

Inspiration

🕐 7 min - Going Beyond Rhythm Pyramid

• Remind students about the Rhythm Pyramid and how each rhythm unit is by a half shorter than the previous one;
• Explain that Dotted Rhythms do not fit into the pyramid and do not follow the splitting-in-half principle;
• TIP ON EXPLAINING THE CONTEXT OF DOTTED NOTES: Compare the “Rhythm Pyramid” to a dreamworld in which everything looks perfect and always fits while in the real world there are imperfect objects which make our everyday life more interesting and surprising – this is the role of dotted notes in music.

Warm-Up

🕐 5 min - Theory of Dots

• Explain the Dot principle: If you add a dot to a note, the note will become longer by half of its value.

🕐 5 min - Dotted Quarter Note

• Show your students how many beats fit in a dotted quarter note
• Show your students how many eighth notes fit in a dotted quarter note
• Incorporate students into the process of explaining to make sure they understand everything:
• How long is a dot?
• What is half of a quarter note?
• A Dotted Quarter Note is by how much longer than a Quarter Note?

Practice

🕐 3 min - Exercise 1: Clapping Dotted Quarter Notes

• Teacher selects individuals for exercise;
• Students are shown a Dotted Quarter Note rhythm example to clap along;
• Students repeat the rhythm;
• Students practice for 30 seconds.

🕐 2 min - Q & A

• Select students to clap the Dotted Quarter Note rhythm for everyone and assist as needed.

🕐 4 min - Exercise 2: Finding Dotted Quarter Notes

• Open your chosen song on the projector or computer:
• Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa (Verse 1)
• Blank Space by Taylor Swift (Bridge)
• Timebomb by Walk The Moon (Chorus 2)
• Press Play and ask your students to spot Dotted Quarter Notes in the part of the song

🕐 2 min - Q & A

• Select students to answer the question – in which line did the dotted quarter notes appear?
• In the Vocal line
• In the 1st Rhythm Line
• In the 2nd Rhythm Line
• In the 3rd Rhythm Line
• Correct answer for all songs: In the Vocal Line

🕐 5 min - Exercise 3

• Show a Dotted Eighth Note to students;
• Ask them to determine how many sixteenth notes fit in a Dotted Eighth Note;
• Give students 3 minutes to figure out the answer

🕐 2 min - Q & A

• Select students to tell you the answer and ask how they arrived at their answer

Reflection

🕐 5 min - Q & A

• Points of discussion
• Did you learn something new? Explain.
• What was easy? What was difficult. Explain.

Beyond the Lesson

• Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by...
• Giving them a song from Solfeg.io and asking to find dotted notes, as well as clap the motives with them

• Doing the “Intermediate Rhythms: Dotted Rhythms” class as a homework

‍