A fun group game to play when learning notes and rhythms.
How to Play
1. Break students into two equal groups, standing in two lines behind a team leader.
2. Place all of the Musical ZAP cards in a pile at the front of the two lines.
3. Team leaders do “Scissors, Paper, Rock” to work out which team is going first.
4. The leader picks up a card and claps, taps or plays the notes on the card.
5. If they complete the rhythm correctly, they earn their team a point.
6. After their attempt (successful or not) they move to the back of the line.
7. Then, the second team draws a card and completes the rhythm on the card.
8. The game repeats until all students have had a turn.
Card Explanations
BEAT CARDS – Students clap, tap or play the rhythm on the card (this can be done with hands, clap sticks, a xylophone or any noise making instrument).
ZAP CARDS – Some cards have an extra task that need to be completed such as lose a turn, gain an extra point etc. The blank ZAP cards can be decided on by the teacher. These could be a physical exercise such as star jumps, sit ups etc.
MUSICAL ZAP CARDS – The MUSICAL ZAP cards are to be decided on by the teacher. These could be a musical task like humming a theme song or playing a freestyle rhythm.
Variation
Give each card a value based on the number of beats in the rhythm. For example, ‘ta’ = 1 point, “ti-ti” = 2 points, “ta-a-a-a” = 4 points.
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