TME Tuesday - Rhythm Wheels

Forgive me as I start a new pattern - I hope I'll be able to keep it up for some time here. Tuesdays will now be Therapeutic Music Experiences (TME) Tuesdays. I'll share something to do with clients each week on Tuesdays...

Here we go. TME #1 during this new venture - drum roll please... Rhythm Wheels!

For a full TME plan, check out the Ideas and Experiences page on my website: www.musictherapyworks.com. (Give me a day or two to get it all finished up, please.) 

I use these wheels to explain the concept of rhythm, measures, and music notation to my clients. Each piece is proportional to every other piece - in other words, the eighth notes are half the size of the quarter notes, the quarter notes are half the size of the half notes, and so on. The visual aspect offers my clients with a concrete representation of an abstract concept - the duration of notes in relation to the other notes. My clients assemble a wheel using randomly colored note pieces and white rest pieces, and then we read the wheel. We also start our rhythm reading at different places around the wheel so we find different patterns in one simple round. Kids are able to interpret and read the wheel with limited instruction, even those who do not have any music reading experience to begin with. It is a simple transfer from the wheel to a measure of music in a music book.

My wheels are about 18" in diameter, making them easy to see in a group of clients (from 6-12 clients). I make smaller ones for 1:1 sessions - we can keep them within a file folder for small sessions. I use them all the time to illustrate music notation ideas and to encourage songwriting and composition. It makes for a good first step into the world of writing music.

Hope this sparks some ideas for you in your clinical area. Happy Tuesday (and Mardi Gras)!

Ooh, just realized that this was blog post #500! Hooray!!! Thanks for reading! 

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