Find the Beat

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Approach:  One to one
Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Identifying the beat  
Resources:
Video on laptop computer, hand drum
FRAME 212Kb
Questions/instructions:  

This activity uses the computer.
In this activity you will be playing the drum to the beat of some music. Let’s watch the video. It will tell you what to do.
Ensure that student is holding the drum so that it is visible to the camera.
Click the Find the Beat button.

 
% responses
2008 ('04)
y4
y8
Music piece 1: (Invercargill March)    
Adopted a repetitive, equal interval, druming beat:
established beat early (within first 3 or 4 secs) and maintained for majority of music 51 (47) 53 (65)
eventually stablised a beat before end of music (played for longer than 5 secs) 21 (19) 22 (12)
didn’t settle into a beat/played a rhythmic pattern 28 (34) 25 (23)
Did the beat fit the music? yes 64 (62) 70 (74)
played a rhythmic pattern in time 8 (11) 8 (6)
no 28 (27) 22 (20)
Music piece 2: (Le ‘Aute)    
Adopted a repetitive, equal interval, druming beat:
established beat early (within first 3 or 4 secs) and maintained for majority of music 46 (48) 42 (52)
eventually stablised a beat before end of music (played for longer than 5 secs) 16 (13) 19 (17)
didn’t settle into a beat/played a rhythmic pattern 38 (39) 39 (31)
Did the beat fit the music? yes 55 (56) 56 (65)
played a rhythmic pattern in time 14 (21) 20 (16)
no 31 (23) 24 (19)
Music piece 3: (Pate Mo Tou Vae)    
Adopted a repetitive, equal interval, druming beat:
established beat early (within first 3 or 4 secs) and maintained for majority of music 31 (26) 31 (41)
eventually stablised a beat before end of music (played for longer than 5 secs) 15 (15) 14 (13)
didn’t settle into a beat/played a rhythmic pattern 54 (59) 55 (46)
Did the beat fit the music? yes 37 (37) 39 (47)
played a rhythmic pattern in time 19 (16) 27 (21)
no 44 (47) 34 (32)

Total score: 9 13 (13) 13 (26)
7–8 22 (21) 23 (25)
5–6 22 (23) 27 (18)
3–4 23 (19) 20 (17)
0–2 20 (24)
17 (14)
Subgroup Analysis [Click on charts to enlarge] :
Year 4


Year 8


Commentary:
More than half of the students at both year levels played in time with the music but, particularly for the second and third pieces, some of them played patterns that followed the music rather than beats. Year 4 and year 8 students performed very similarly, as did year 4 students in 2004 and 2008 (year 8 performance dropped a little). Year 4 Pasifika students did particularly well, far outperforming Pakeha and Mäori students.