Two eighth notes plus a sixteenth note equals one and one half beats (.5 +.5 +.25 = 1.25 beats) Make things more challenging and get into fractions by adding eighth notes and sixteenth notes. How many beats are in this math problem? Four! Put plus" signs between each quarter note and an equals" sign at the end. Once students understand the concept of beats and measures, the discussion can be taken to the next level and common musical symbols can be used as a way to do fractional math.ĭraw a diagram with four quarter notes in place of the four subdivided boxes mentioned previously. USING MUSIC TO TEACH MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS An eighth note is one eighth of a measure, not one eighth of a beat. Remember that the names of the rhythms relate to a full measure rather than to the beats themselves.Each eighth note lasts for one half of a beat.ĭivide the eighth notes in half and you have sixteenth notes! Each sixteenth note lasts for one forth of a beat. Each quarter note is equal to one beat of the music.Įach of these four beats can be cut in half again, leaving eight parts to the measure (known as eighth notes in music). Quarter notes are the part of the music that is most often felt as the beat we tap our foot to. That represents a full measure of music.Ĭut a measure in half and each of the two chunks" becomes a "half note" that lasts for two beats.Ĭut each half note into two parts and you get quarter notes. Draw a long horizontal rectangle on the board. Begin by proposing the notion that those beats are durations rather than instants in time. The beats in a piece of music are the pulses you tap your feet to while listening to it. TEACHING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATH AND MUSIC Try these simple ideas to incorporate music or mathematics into your next lesson. Drawing parallels between pop music and math concepts is a great way to reinforce those cross-curricular concepts while using a strong mental hook to keep students attention. The rhythms of a piece of music are based on a standard unit of time (known as a measure) that can be subdivided in many different ways. Without mathematics, music simply would not exist. Music teachers are well aware of the very close link between math and music. Included: Links to more music resources and worksheets.Ĭhad Criswell is a music educator and freelance education writer and runs the music education resource site. Music educator Chad Criswell offers easy cross-curricular teaching ideas for math or music teachers.
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