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Year 2 - Music

Learning about rhythm

Start with singing: learning through singing games

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils develop their understanding of pitch, pulse, beat, and rhythm by participating in a variety of singing games. Through playful and interactive songs and movements, pupils will naturally develop their understanding of these musical elements.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify the rhythm in songs you sing, and you know the difference between beat and rhythm.

Key Notes

  • Most music has a steady beat. The beat can be fast or slow.
  • When the beat is fast, we say it has a fast tempo. When the beat is slow we say it has a slow tempo.
  • The rhythm matches the pattern of the words or syllables in a song.
  • Using stick notation is one way of writing down the rhythm of a song.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • beat: the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock
  • tempo: how fast or slow the music is played
  • rhythm: the pattern of sounds that we play and sing
  • syllable: a part of a word
  • stick notation: a way of writing rhythms down

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Beat and rhythm are the same thing.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Most music has a steady beat. The beat can be fast or slow. When the beat is fast, we say it has a fast tempo. When the beat is slow we say it has a slow tempo.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'beat'

the playing or showing of the steady pulse, like the ticking of a clock.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Beat and rhythm are the same thing. Correction: These two key words are often confused. The beat is the playing or showing of the steady heartbeat, while the rhythm is the pattern of sounds we play or sing. One stays steady, while the other is made up of a pattern of longer or shorter sounds.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 2 Music guide library.