Rhythm, Logic & Community:
Body, Mind & Spirit
Unit Overview
The goal of this unit is to encourage students to make connections
between three innate realms of knowledge:
* Body knowledge of rhythm
* Useful structuring of logical thought processes
* Community and communication awareness
Music enables us to communicate with similar intention.
Rhythm games carried out in community are gratifying experiences
of the value of cooperation and successful communication.
Experiencing rhythmic structure provides concrete analogies for
understanding basic information processing models that are the
logical foundation of all computer systems. This unit uses rhythm
to practice and increase awareness of communication skills and
logical concepts. Using this wholistic approach to teaching logical
thought while engaged in group process encourages students to
develop a sense of responsibility and awareness of the purpose and
impact of their ideas.
To get in touch with body knowledge of rhythm, we will do vocal
and body-oriented rhythm exercises that give practice in physical
coordination. The concepts of structured logic and simple algebraic
formulae will be introduced and reinforced through vocal rhythm.
Metaphors in music are created to describe flow charts including
IF...THEN statements, AND / OR / NOT logic and other information
processing ideas common to all computer programming languages.
Experiencing group rhythm demonstrates the power and importance
of cooperative group process and will lead to discussion of these
concepts.
This work is supported by a belief in the power of music. Through
group play and the lessons inherent in the experience of African
polyrhythm, we can learn tolerance and gain appreciation for multiple
perspectives. Music therapy research has shown the ability of music
to aid socialization, enhance self-esteem and energize through rhythm.
Rhythm brings the body, the mind and the spirit together.
Brief Overview of the Seven Lessons in the Unit
Each lesson begins in a large circle using voices and bodies to make
music. Then there will be a discussion or other nonmusical activity. A
large portion of the time will involve music-making, integrating and
reinforcing the concepts introduced and discussed.
Lesson 1: Cooperation & Perspective
* Introduce myself
* Introduce Mangiani, the initiation rhythm. (see enclosed)
* Have entire group learn to rap the phrases for each of the three parts.
* Ask, ³What is rhythm?² Discuss silence, listening, cooperation.
* Introduce the concept of polyrhythm.
* Switch parts so that everyone raps each part.
* Discuss perspective.
* Have students choose new words and body sounds to perform.
Lesson 2: Values
* Review Mangiani rhythm.
* Introduce 2A+B formula using parts A and B of Mangiani to practice sequencing.
* Ask students to suggest other simple algebraic formula such as A+3B, writing results of the formula on the chalkboard.
* Introduce Lamba, the healing rhythm, parts A, B and C.
* Discuss variable, value and sequence, including mathematical and humanistic definitions.
* Write sequencing formula 2A+B using lamba parts A and B on chalkboard. Practice performing this sequence.
* Practice three part polyrhythm with class divided into three groups.
Lesson 3: Communication & Creativity
* Review Lamba rhythm.
* Give 8-beat blank rhythm web handouts, having class break into smaller groups of six to eight students and collaborate to create three or four part rhythms.
* Have each group pick a representative to draw their rhythm web on the chalkboard.
* Groups demonstrate their rhythms, singing each part and then all the parts of the polyrhythm together, with at least two students per part.
* Vocabulary for discussion: communication, dialog, interlocking, purpose, intention.
Lesson 4: Conditions
* Introduce Lindjian, the rhythm for the bird dance, parts A and B.
* Working with rhythms the students created in the previous lesson, have groups choose a conductor and define certain conditions to direct playing parts A & B of Lindjian. For example, IF my arms are in the air THEN play part A, IF I drop my hands then be silent.
* Work with students to solve musical problems as they arise, developing a set of rules and actions to perform changes in rhythm.
* Vocabulary for discussion: condition, action, rules, problem solving.
Lesson 5: Logic and Categorization
* Take stock of all the rhythm parts we¹ve learned so far.
* Use Venn diagrams to categorize these parts. What kinds of categories can we create? Does the category have a useful application or is it purely theoretical?
* Describe AND, OR and NOT logic concepts and work with students to create sequences to play based on sets defined by their categories.
* Vocabulary to discuss: category, data type
Lesson 6: Processing
* Review part A of Lindjian and part A of Mangiani.
* Introduce the concept REPEAT WHILE certain conditions exist. To demonstrate, have students repeat Mangiani part A while listening for the traditional ³signal² drum sequence to end.
* Discuss changing conditions and actions and write possible sets of rules on the board.
* Vocabulary to discuss: process, algorithm, background process,
Lesson 7: Perspective, Choices and Purpose
* Using concepts introduced in lesson 4, review Mangiani rhythm demonstrating multiple IF...ELSE statements, writing on board.
* Introduce the concept of the CASE statement, a convenient way of processing a list of options based on different conditions.
* Ask ³How do different conditions create different perspectives² ³What does it mean when we say multiple perspectives?² ³How can we best decide our actions given different conditions and perspectives?
*Vocabulary to discuss: statement, perspective, multiple perspective
How I see myself working with the teacher in classroom environment:
I would like to work with the teacher to choose the appropriate vocabulary words, the complexity of the formulae, and the development of specific exercises that would integrate with material being taught in the rest of the curriculum. I would like the teacher to work with me musically by learning the rhythms I will teach and helping to lead when different rhythms are played simultaneously. The teacher¹s experience and rapport with students would facilitate discussions and provide effective integration with other areas of the curriculum.
Lesson Plan
Lesson 1: Cooperation & Perspective
Target audience: Grades 8-12
Time frame: 1-2 hours
Lesson Overview
In this first lesson we use words spoken to the rhythm of traditional West African rhythm parts to experience community through music. Using 3 parts of the Senegalese initiation rhythm Mangiani, we practice listening and communication. Discussion focussed on communication and cooperation is followed by the group rapping all three interlocking parts at once. Finally, we discuss perspective, and how it feels to hear the same thing in different ways.
This curriculum is designed to be flexible in terms of age range and length of session (1-2 hours). Each rhythm activity can be presented adjusting speed and complexity, vocabulary and discussion according to grade level.
Vocabulary for Lesson 1
communication
community
cooperation
hearing
listening
perspective
polyrhythm
respect
rhythm
Materials and Equipment
Space that allows group to be seated or standing all in one large circle.
Overhead projector, prepared transparencies and blank transparencies
Rhythm web handouts of West African rhythms
Blank rhythm webs for students to create new rhythms.
Colored markers for transparencies
Colored pencils for students (or regular pencils)
Colored chalk
Introduction
To present these ideas and motivate the music-making process, I will:
* Talk about the importance of respect, community and purpose.
* Teach the parts of the Mangiani rhythm, using the inherent rhythm of language in phrases such as ³I can do this² and ³Really like to rap this rhythm.² (See enclosed example of Mangiani rhythm web.)
* Allow time to hear students voices discussing their experience and defining vocabulary words.
* Work in small groups to create and perform new rhythms.
Procedure
* Introduce myself: ³I¹m happy to be here to share music and ideas with you. We are here to communicate musically and think about structure and purpose. The only groundrule is respect.²
* Using rhythm web overhead projection, introduce Mangiani, the initiation rhythm, parts a, b & c. (see enclosed rhythm web)
* Have entire group learn to rap the phrases for each of the three parts.
* Ask, ³What is rhythm?² Let them discuss, noting the importance of silence, listening, cooperation.
* Introduce the concept of polyrhythm, using rhythm web to demonstrate the nature of the interlocking parts of Mangiani. Divide the class into three groups, assigning one part to each.
* Have students switch parts to practice hearing the rhythm differently.
* Ask ³What is perspective?² and ³How does it make you feel to hear the same thing differently than someone else hears it?²
* Switch again so that each group has rapped each of the three parts.
* Ask for suggestions for different words for performing this rhythm.
* Perform with one or more new set of phrases from students¹ words.
* ³Now let¹s do the rhythm with body sounds.² Ask ³What sounds can we all make?² List on board.
* Perform one or more set of body sounds from students¹ suggestions.
Evaluation
* Ask ³What did we learn today?²
* Have students spend 5-10 minutes writing about their experience.
* Ask for student responses to write on the board.
* Discuss these responses, ask for suggestions for improvement.
* Thank the class for a job well done. Tell them ³I¹m looking forward to meeting with you next week. Think about the different kinds of rhythm in your life, because we will talk about that next week.²
Integration & Extension
This lesson can be integrated with lessons in:
* algebra
* set theory
* computer programming
* social studies
* music notation and theory
This lesson could be extended by:
* Having students develop and perform more of their own rhythms, using blank rhythm handouts.
* Teaching other traditional rhythms and songs to sing with these rhythms.
* Developing an instrumental performance ensemble.
* Concurrent study of traditional African or Carribean cultures.
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