Rhythm Clapping Game

At the heart of all music, rhythm stands as one of its main pillars. From a very young age, we react to both melody and rhythm in an instinctual way. From bobbing our heads to moving our feet, it is embedded deep inside of us to feel rhythm. In today’s rhythm clapping game, you will go head to head with Mozi to see if you can beat him in three rounds.

The rules are simple: Mozi claps the rhythm on the orange circles and you respond by clapping the same rhythm back on the blue circles. This type of back and forth in music is called call and response.

Call and Response

According to Wikipedia, acall and responseis a succession of two distinctphrasesusually written in different parts of the music, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or in response to the first. It corresponds to thecall-and-responsepattern in humancommunicationand is found as a basic element ofmusical form, such asverse-chorus form, in many traditions.

Even more important than its official definition is that it’s fun. As adults, we constantly participate in call and response moments. When an artist sings and asks us to repeat after them, that’s a form of call and response. Think “when I throw my hands in the air, you say ‘ayyy’.” When we ask a child to say something after we say it first, that is a simple version of call and response.

At it’s heart, call and response is a conversation between people with music or rhythm. That’s what today’s game is all about.

Have Fun

When it comes to learning music, having fun is high on the list. I can’t tell you the amount of people that have had bad experiences with learning music. That always breaks my heart. When we love what we are doing, we can both learn and enjoy ourselves.

Let that be the aim today with your students and kids. Have a blast, play it a few times and enjoy this rhythm clapping game. When you conquer this one, try our Sevens Rhythm Clapping Game too, it’s a tricky one!