All My Friends
Lesson Book page 58
- Ties from weak beats to downbeats
- Syncopation
what's new
- Feeling the tie
- Feeling the syncopation
what's important
let's get started
- Copy what I tap. (Tap the rhythm of Mm. 1-2 with strong syncopation). Tap it with your RH. Your LH. Now hands together.
- Let's play that rhythm pattern on C (or any key).
- This is what that rhythm looks like in the music. (Point to Mm. 1-2, then point to the tie.) What's this? The tie goes over the barline.
- You point to the notes while I play the piece. Point with whichever hand plays the part.
- Let's work at the piece in two-measure sections. Play Mm. 1-2 five times for the five letters in Jimmy. Then play Mm. 3-4 three times for Ben; Mm. 5-6 four times for Sara. (Sing the words.)
- Now let's gather all your friends together. Play the piece.
It's easier to feel a syncopation than to count it!
explore and create
New Rhythm Cheers
Have fun chanting these syllables to the rhythm pattern in Mm. 1-2:bah bah bah BOOM bah bah
Make up your own silly words!
va va va VOOM va vaPlay Rhythm Cheers
Play your rhythm cheer on any key, a drum, a triangle, or with maracas.Ear Patterns
RH fingers over the C five-finger scale. Close your eyes! I'll play that rhythm pattern using any of these notes. See if you can copy me. Let's try this with your LH!
A tie from a weak to a strong beat creates a syncopation.
partner pages
Technique & Artistry
p. 28 We Won the Game Today!
- A syncopated pattern travels up and down the keys. Let's clap and say the words before playing. Can you play each hand with your eyes closed? Feel the keys!
pedagogy pointers
Everyone likes to play music with a little "zip" in it. Ties are often used to create syncopated effects. In this second piece that uses ties, the ties are from weak beats to downbeats, not on ending notes where holding notes over the bar line is often expected. Here again, it's important that the student first feel the syncopation, then see that it is caused by the tie.
Each time, the skip is to the tied note, and the rhythm pattern that includes the tie is used three times in succession. It becomes a rhythmic motive that reinforces how the tie creates the syncopated effect.
accompaniments on disk
- CD Tracks 80-81
- MIDI File 40