Rhythm and Beat in Music

Music has a pulse

Music is sound arranged in time. Beat is the steady pulse you tap with your foot. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds that fit over the beat. The KICD Creative Arts curriculum teaches Grade 6 learners to perform and create rhythm.

Beat and rhythm

• Beat: 1, 2, 3, 4 (steady)
• Rhythm: clap clap rest clap (a pattern)

Note lengths

Kenyan instruments

• Percussion (struck or shaken): ngoma (drum), shakers.
• Strings (plucked): nyatiti, orutu.
• Wind (blown): horns and flutes.

Making your own

You can make shakers from bottle tops in a tin, a drum from a plastic container, or sticks to tap out beats.

Folk songs

Many Kenyan folk songs tell stories about farming, welcome and school life. Singing together builds unity and teaches culture.

Performing

1. Warm up your voice.
2. Keep to the beat.
3. Start and stop together.
4. Respect the audience and fellow players.

Try it

• Clap a four-beat rhythm and let a friend copy it.
• Make a shaker and play along to a folk song.
• Name one instrument from each group: percussion, string, wind.