- A dot means we add half the value of the note to it's original length
- A quaver is worth half a beat
- A dotted quaver is worth half as much again
- Half of half a beat is a quarter, and a quarter plus a half is three quarters, therefore;
- A dotted quaver is worth three quarters of a beat
Not all kids are successful fraction-users. Or, in the case of younger students, they haven't even started fractions yet. We need an alternative strategy!
I thought of something which often gets divided into fractions that students would be able to visualise - pizza. (Feel free to turn this into cake, or if you're a health-nut, an apple).
We start with a whole pizza. This represents a crotchet, or a whole beat.
We divide it in half (I usually 'assign' each half to a student, or in the case of individual lessons, one half for me, and one half for them). This represents quavers, or half of a beat.
The student then needs to mentally cut one of those halves in half again. How big is each piece? A quarter.
I am going to give the student one of my quarters, and they will need to put it with their half. How much pizza does the student now have? Three quarters. A dotted quaver is worth three quarters of a beat.
You can use the food/visual analogy with a lot of rhythmic concepts. One which comes to mind, that young students often struggle with, is 6/8.
6/8 is counted in half pizzas (quavers). There are six half pizzas per bar.
We are going to group the half pizzas into groups of three, which is how quavers are grouped in 6/8. How much pizza is in three halves? (One and a half! So, dotted crotchet.)
The basics of 6/8 (counted in half-beats, pulsed in dotted crotchets, and a full bar is worth a dotted minim) have been laid out in food.
This is a tried and true strategy of mine, and the bonus of this one is it will appeal to both the maths-savvy student and the visual learner. It also injects a little fun and distraction to an otherwise serious concept. Enjoy!
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