Using Kodaly rhythm names this rhythm builder can help students recognise and reproduce rhythm symbols to create their own rhythmic phrases. Whether playing classroom instruments or using body percussion students can also learn the basic concept of form by creating different musical phrases for sections A, B, C. How to use this resource: This resource can be used to teach form, create rhythms as a class or in groups. There is provision for 3 rhythm phrases - one each for sections A, B, C. Each section could be used to create rhythms for body percussion or for playing classroom instruments. Body percussion: Section A could be for clapping, B could be for stomping etc. Classroom instruments: Each instrument can have its own rhythm section, or it could be used for drum rhythm work. Group work: Students can work together in small groups and each student/group can create their own phrase or phrases. The slide with boxes is to separate each rhythm symbol and highlight the individual rhythm values. The slide with the longer spaces is for students to be able to transfer these rhythms into a different space (optional and could be more useful for older students). Colour slides are provided to use on projector/whiteboards as well as a black and white printable version.

The Wolf Howls is a song created for schools and their music students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts for students including the tambourine, triangle, small drum, glockenspiel and xylophone with the backing chords played on a ukulele and melody on the piano. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-11 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to a fun song about a wolf who is hungry and who howls through the song. With basic knowledge of rhythmic values, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the ukulele and piano. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrument parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in on the tambourine, before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats in the song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. Each group of instrument players will need to sit together either in a group or a row, so they can see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing different instruments, the students should be able to improve their performances of the song as a whole.

The Sloth Sleeps is a song created for schools and their music students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts for students including claves (or rhythm sticks), tambourine, triangle, glockenspiel and xylophone, which accompany the guitar, bass guitar and soprano saxophone on the melody. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-11 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to a fun song about a happy, sleepy sweet sloth. With basic knowledge of rhythmic values, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the guitars and saxophone. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrument parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in on the triangle, before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats in the song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. Each group of instrument players will need to sit together either in a group or a row, so they can see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing different instruments, the students should be able to improve their performances of the song as a whole.

The Tiger Creeps is a song created for schools and their music students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts for students including claves (or rhythm sticks), tambourine, side drum, bass drum, glockenspiel and xylophone, plus the acoustic guitar for backing chords and the melody is on a trumpet in C. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-11 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to a fun song about watching a tiger creep up on its prey. With basic knowledge of rhythmic values, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the acoustic guitar and trumpet. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrument parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in on the wood block, before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats in the song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. Each group of instrument players will need to sit together either in a group or a row, so they can see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing different instruments, the students should be able to improve their performances of the song as a whole.

Riding on my Horse is a song created for schools and their music students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts for students including wood blocks, tambourine, snare drum, glockenspiel plus an acoustic guitar and piano for melody and chord structure. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-11 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to a happy song about riding a horse, singing and clippety-clopping through trails. With basic knowledge of rhythmic values, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the acoustic guitar and piano. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrumental parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in on the wood block, before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats in the song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. Each group of instrument players will need to sit together either in a group or a row, so they can see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing different instruments, the students should be able to improve their performances of the song as a whole.

Crows Squawk is a song created for schools and their music students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts for students including side drum, claves (or rhythm sticks), tambourine, glockenspiel and xylophone. The guitar, piccolo and harmonica play the melody and chord backing. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-10 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to an eerie song about crows. With basic knowledge of rhythmic values, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the harmonica, piccolo and guitar. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrument parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in on the triangle before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats in the song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. Each group of instrument players will need to sit together either in a group or a row, so they can see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing different instruments, the students should be able to improve their performances of the song as a whole.

Printable colouring activity worksheet to identify symbols for musical rests in music scores or for music classroom activities in KS1 or KS2. How I use this resource: Students can work independently or in pairs with coloured pencils to identify symbols for rests. This is a nice quiet activity for end of school year, a cover lesson or to consolidate student knowledge.

Clownfish Bubbles is a song created for students of 7 years old upwards with a basic understanding of simple rhythmic notation, who wish to play classroom instruments. The song is divided into several parts including glockenspiel, xylophone, triangle, tambourine and wood blocks. A resource for tuned and untuned percussion instruments to help students learn to play basic ostinati in an ensemble from early Primary or Elementary school years. Students from Year 2 upwards (7-10 years) can learn to play repeated rhythms to a song about clownfish (aka Nemo). With basic rhythm knowledge, students learn to count in a 4 beat time signature and accompany music, which has classroom percussion instruments playing alongside the melody and ukulele chords. The song has a feel of clownfish bobbing underwater and blowing bubbles. This is a project which can last up to 6 weeks or a half term, depending on student ability. Students can work in groups or stations as a team and move to a different instrument each week within the same song. It is a project where counting beats can be explored and progress can be formative and summative for assessment. Included in this resource is an mp3 file with full instrumental audio, plus a pdf of all instrument parts and a full score, plus a movie of the score as it plays and a lyric sheet if needed. The audio features a 4 beat count-in before the music begins. How I use this resource: Have the percussion score sheets to share on a screen for whole class viewing and discussion. Set up separate stations/tables with one kind of instrument and their respective score/rhythm sheet. Discuss 4 beat time signatures. Point out the individual bars/measures and have students clap the rhythm. Demonstrate that the rhythm repeats for the entire song for each instrument on the score. When divided into groups, circulate to reinforce the counting and the rhythm and how to play/hold the instruments. At this point, there is usually an obvious leader in the group who is counting correctly and this can lead to great teamwork. Once students start to become more confident with their rhythms, bring students back to the main floor to perform the song with the backing track. They should sit in groups or rows to see and support each other. Discuss difficulties and recap the following lesson before groups rotate to play a different instrument. By the end of a few weeks playing each instrument, the students should be able to perform the song well.

This is a hello or welcome song for the beginning of music class. It is aimed at students from 5-8 years old. It attempts to raise their pitch to begin the lesson and asks them to clap, stomp, sing and strike a pose or do a little dance to warm them up a little. How I use this resource: Once students are seated I will play the first few notes on the piano (or other instrument) and ask students to sing the notes back. Then we can start the song. Students love to stomp and make sounds, so ensure they are doing each action 3 times and not getting carried away. ‘Do a dance’ is very quick and is only intended to bring a smile to everyone’s face. Students should be ready to continue the song after a quick move.

This worksheet is designed to help students recognise basic rhythm symbols. Colour the musical egg using the colour key on the page and some colouring pencils. For students from Year 1 upwards, students can recognise and differentiate between the symbols for a crotchet, a, crotchet rest, quaver and minim. Simply download the pdf, print and start colouring!