How can you identify a piece of music’s time signature? This lesson plan uses two engaging video lessons to teach students just that. A fun game gives them the chance to show what they’ve learned.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
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- define ‘time signature’ as it relates to music
- identify different types of time signatures in music
Length
- 1 to 1.
5 hours
Curriculum Standards
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
- CCSS.
ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.
6-8.3
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.
RST.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g.
, in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.
Materials
- Copies of sheet music
- Samples of music in the following time signatures: Polka, March, Gavotte, Waltz, Mazurka, Minuet, Scherzo, Gigue, and Tarantella
- A worksheet created using the time signature quiz and the meters quiz from the associated lessons
Instructions
- Begin by writing the term ‘time signature’ on the board.
- Now play the video lesson Time Signature in Music: Definition and Examples, pausing at 3:18.
- Pass out the photocopies of sheet music to the class now, one per student.
- Instruct students to use what they learned in the video lesson to find the time signature on their sheets.
- When each student has found the time signature, have them present it to the class along with an explanation supporting their answer.
- Play the rest of the video lesson for the class now.
- Who can identify a duple meter in their sheet music? A triple meter?
- Who can identify a simple meter in their sheet music? A compound meter?
- Who can spot a complex meter in their sheet music?
- Does anyone have a mixed meter in their sheet music?
- Now play the video lesson Meters and Time Signatures in Musical Forms and pause it at 2:21.
- Play the Polka sample for the class.
- Can you identify the time signature in the Polka music?
- Play the video lesson again and pause it at 3:58.
- Play the March sample for the class.
- Now play the Gavotte sample for the class.
- Can you identify the time signatures in these samples?
- Play the video lesson again and pause at 8:42.
- Play the Waltz, Mazurka, Minuet, Scherzo samples for the class now.
- Can you identify the time signatures in these samples?
- Is it getting harder to do so?
- Play the rest of the video lesson for the class now.
- Now play the samples of Gigue and Tarantella for the class.
- Can you identify the time signatures in these samples?
- Pass out the worksheet and have the students work independently to complete it.
Activity
- Divide the class into several small groups.
- Explain that you will be playing a game entitled Guess the Time Signature. You will play assorted snippets of audio, each representing a different time signature.
The groups must raise their hand if they know the time signature.
- The first group to raise their hand will state the answer. If their answer is correct, they get a point and you will move on to the next sample of music. If their answer is incorrect, they lose a point and the group who raised their hand second will be permitted to state their answer and so on.
- The group with the most points at the end of the game wins!
Extensions
- Have students select sheet music and analyze its time signature.
- Ask students to compose simple pieces of music representing each of the time signatures discussed in the lesson.
Related Lessons
- Rhythm: Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Rests & Other Basic Rhythms
- Rhythm: Recognizing Syncopation, Dotted Notes & Ties
