Rhythm Dice Games

STEADY BEAT GAMES: To introduce kids to the concept of beat, discuss what a beat is and why it is important in music, just as your heart is important to you.  It is the beating heart or ticking engine that makes music move. Place all of the light green dice in front of a student and have them find all of the quarter notes and put them in a line.  Clap and count. Alternate the quarter notes with the quarter rests in an easy pattern and clap and count.  Alternate the quarter notes with the 2-eighth notes and clap and count.

BODY BEATS.  Tap and feel the beat in all parts of your body as you listen to music. Create a  4-beat patterns with the light green dice.  Kids perform 4 steady beats with a different part of the body: feet, elbows, head, hands, mouth, heels, toes, hips, arms, voice, fingers, etc.

REPEAT AFTER ME: Teacher claps or plays a pattern of 2, 3, 4, or more beats. Kids take turns putting the rhythms of the dice on the floor to show what rhythm they heard. Then the whole class claps back the pattern.

WHICH BEAT IS SILENT?   Put 4 quarter note dice on the floor. The student claps it back, saying aloud “beat” or a rhythm syllable like “ta” as they tap their right foot. The teacher then claps a new 4-beat pattern, substituting a rest for one of the beats; a student changes the new pattern on the dice, replacing the “silent” beat with a rest. The student claps back each new pattern (also tapping with the foot and saying aloud the rhythm syllable), opening their arms as they whisper “rest” on the silent beat.

DON’T MISS A BEAT! Circle Game: Kids form a seated circle. Give each child a rhythm die and have them roll it do determine which rhythm they are going to clap. Kids take turns clockwise around the circle performing the rhythm in front of them: clapping their hands and saying “beat” or “ta” for the single beat, and opening their hands and saying “rest” or “shhh” (or your choice of rhythm syllable) if a rest is in front of them. Teacher might beat a drum to keep the kids on a steady beat as they play the game. Whoever breaks the rhythm (or misplays or fails to say the correct rhythm) is replaced by another student, who starts the next round. The goal is to go around the circle 3 times without breaking the rhythm or missing a beat!

CAN YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?  (Eartraining) Teacher claps or plays rhythm patterns (while tapping the foot on the beat), and kids take turns with the dice, arranging the rhythm dice into the pattern they heard. If correct, the whole class then taps, claps, and says aloud the pattern,  3 times in a row.

RHYTHM TEAM GAME Divide the class into 2 teams. Teams take turns rolling the dice, while another team member draws a matching rhythm on the whiteboard. Game continues until there are  8 rhythms on the board. Then team members take turns clapping, tapping, and saying aloud the 8 rhythms on the board. Whenever a team member performs it correctly, a point is scored for the team. Continue playing new rounds until all have had a turn rolling the dice. After everyone has a turn, whichever team has the most points wins.

MEMORY.  A child rolls one die 4 times in a row and performs in the same order those 4 rhythms.

RHYTHM SCALE: Roll 8 dice and sing or play a 1 octave scale, each note a different rhythm. 

Roll 10

  • Choice of music dice depending on what needs to be worked on.
  • 2 players (student and parent/teacher)
  • Private lesson or home practice - any instrument
  • Put 10 playing pieces between the two players (dominoes, skittles, pennies, etc.) The student rolls the die and names it.  If she can name it correctly she gets one of the game pieces.  If the teacher/parent needs to help the parent/teacher gets the game piece.  Continue to do this until all the pieces are gone.  The person with the most game pieces at the end is the winner.  Continue to play this each day until the student can get all 10 game pieces easily.

DIDGERIDOO

  • 4 Rhythm Dice
  • The student rolls the dice and claps the resulting rhythm from left to right. If the student is correct, the teacher claps back. If the student is incorrect, the teacher says, “Didgeridoo?” (This is a play on the Australian musical instrument because it sounds like you could be saying “Did you redo?”)

24 Beats

  • Brown Rhythm Dice, Orange Rhythm Dice, Blue Rhythm Dice or Light Blue Rests Dice
  • 2-4 Players
  • Players take turns rolling the die.  The time value of the note is your score - write it down.  The first player to get 24 beats is the winner.  This game can be made more difficult by requiring that each measure be completed before starting the next measure.

The Write Rhythm

  • Simple time signature die and choice of rhythm dice.
  • 2-4 Players
  • Staff paper or staff white board
  • Roll the Time Signature Dice to determine the time signature of the passage you will play with.  Space 8 bars on your sheet of staff paper.  Select which Notes Dice you will roll.  Use the note or rest you roll to fill all or part of a measure.  If you cannot use the note or rest which appears, you must wait for your next turn.  The winner is the first player to fill up eight measures of rhythm.