Beat Tag (Meter & Time Signature Game) | Free Music Lesson Plan

Music Lesson Plan

Step 1
Tell students, "We're going to play a game to learn about meter and time signatures." Point to the whiteboard where you have written the 3/4 and 4/4 signatures. "Have any of you seen these time signatures before?"

Step 2
The top number of each time signature tells you how many beats are in each measure. Ask students, "How many beats are in a 3/4 measure? That's right, three."

Step 3
"Let's make up a three-beat pattern and perform it with the class." Take suggestions from the class, and perform a few. "My favorite is pat-clap-clap. It stresses the first beat, which is always the strongest in each measure. Let's try that one too."

Step 4
"Let's stand up and try another strong-weak-weak pattern." Ask the students to stomp their right foot on beat 1 and clap their hands on beats 2 and 3, as you play a boom-chick-chick pattern on the piano.

Step 5
"Now let's move around the room, taking a step on beat 1 of each measure and clapping on beats 2 and 3." Once everyone is performing successfully, you are ready to start the game.

Step 6
"It's time to play the game."

Set-Up
Choose two "Taggers" to stand on one side of the room. The rest of the class are "Players" and will start on the opposite side.

Rules
1) When the music starts, everyone must move by stepping on beat 1 and clapping on beats 2 and 3.
2) Taggers can only tag a player if they are in range while maintaining the step-clap-clap pattern.
3) If you get tagged, or if you accidentally step on the wrong beat, you're out.
4) If a tagger steps out of turn, the game freezes. Players can safely move to a new spot in the room. 5) The very last untagged player wins the game.

Step 7
"Let's play the game!" Play a version with a 3/4 meter and repeat the activity using 4/4 meter (stomp-clap-clap-clap or strong-weak-weak-weak) to reinforce the concept further.