Learning Tempo

Tempo is a concept that can be taught even before formal lessons start. Below you’ll find tempo games to play with young children and online games to help older students with tempo terms.

2 Tempo Games for Young Children

1)Music & Movement

Materials

• Homemade rhythm instruments, real musical instruments, such as piano or guitar, or recorded music

Directions

1. The goal of this activity is to have your child experience movement as it relates to music or rhythm.
2. Play different types of music and have your child physically express how the music makes him feel: run for fast music, tiptoe for soft music, hop and bounce for happy music, march for a parade tune, and so on.
3. You can also tap out a rhythmic beat and encourage your child to clap or hop in time to the beat.

http://fun.familyeducation.com/music/dance/36782.html?detoured=1

2)ClockWork Marching

Directions

In this activity, your child will march to a steady beat—a metronome is ideal, or you can clap your hands.

1. Ask your child to march to the beat, swinging his arms wide and lifting his feet high for slow beats, short and low for faster beats.
2. Try slowing down the beat and also making it faster -see how your child adjusts his or her marching to the tempo changes.
3. When the beat stops, stop marching.
4. Let your child create the rhythm while you march. Try marching together to a song with a strong drum beat. Then, stop marching while the song goes on and continue to clap the beat that you were walking to, then resume marching in time with the music.

http://fun.familyeducation.com/dance/activity/40321.html

Online Game for Older Students

Tempo Walk: This is an online game where students can practice learning and identifying Tempo Terms.