Hi
I have a student who is taking the piano prep test in a couple of weeks. She is excellent at everything else but simply cannot clap the beat of the music which is part of the listening games section. Does anybody have any ideas how to help? I've tried playing things fast and slow, played pieces she knows, emphasized the first beat etc. At her next lesson we're going to try marching to some music, throwing a bean bag( a tip I learned on my CT Course!) and listening to Take That which is her favourite band. She totally doesn't understand what she's meant to be doing and I'm really struggling to put into words what I want her to do. I've explained about music having a "heartbeat" but I'm grateful for any advice as I've never been in a situation before when I've been totally at a loss of what to say!
Thanks in advance

Marching might help, I've tried that in the past. Dancing generally, I'd say, get her to feel it.

I think it's quite a hard concept for a small person.

She's not one of my younger ones, she's 11 so I thought she might understand.
And the mother sits in on the lessons which made me feel even worse!

By beat you mean pulse? Definately marching in time to music, also get her to pat her knees while you play to keep the pulse - its more visual

One of my prep test pupils would initally clap the rhythm rather than the pulse. I asked her if she ever tapped her feet along to the radio and then she registered exactly what she was supposed to do.

Sorry, yes I did mean the pulse.
I've tried the radio thing with her which she kind of understood, but still couldn't do it. I also tried getting her just to clap a steady pulse, then I started playing to her pulse. I got her to clap faster, then I played faster, clapped slower and I played slower, but as soon as we went back to me playing first and her trying to clap the pulse it all went wrong again!
Sometimes she found the first beat of the bar, but other times she struggled with it.

Feet are always much better at it than hands! I always get them to start off with their feet- mostly they get this quickly, if not I march on the spot whilst playing until they copy it correctly. Once the feet are right I get them to swop to the hands. It always seems to work. The examples are often not long enough for the ones that don't find it easy so I keep on playing until they have it right. I have even known my pupils to start off with their feet and swap in an exam! the examiners usually haven 't minded.

Practice makes perfect; I could never do this either and it took me a while to get the concept.
My teacher used to play music for me and tap the beat herself so I could see what she was doing..

Plus this one exersize in the exam isnt worth a tremendous amount of work; perhaps you could get more marks by working on something else with her?

Just a suggestion anyway :]

Clapping duets can be fun. Pupil claps a steady 4 while teacher claps quavers and then swap around. Another way is to try being a counting 'cheer leader'. S'cuse my English but try a call and response like this to teach a 4/4 pulse for example. (Although I think Prep test only asks for 2 and 3 beats).

Teacher: 'what's after 1'?

Pupil: *claps* and says 2 simultaneously.

Teacher: 'what's after 2'?

Pupil: claps 3

Teacher: 'what's after 3'?

Pupil: claps 4

Teacher: 'what's after 4'?

Pupil (and this is crunch time!) will probably clap and call out FIVE. You tell them it's back to 1 again, unless of course they get it right! Have fun!

I agree with the marching comments. Get her to walk as if she's just going to the shops or whatever, then you join in playing crotchets in time with her (not her in time with you, it's really important that you match her so that she feels as if she is in control / making the music - it's Dalcroze). If she finds it hard to walk steadily you can talk about how soldiers march / get her mum to march with her. To make it more fun she could march when you play high notes, clap when play low ones and what does she do if you play both at the same time - they love it when you surprise them with this one!

As she gets more confident you can start playing longer / shorter notes and she has to keep marching steadily like a soldier. Do you have a drum / claves or somethign that she could play as she marches? Anyway, good luck!

I agree with all the above suggestions, especially marching and tapping feet.

However, there's no pass or fail for the Prep Test, as you'll know. When I've had a pupil who's found a bit of the "Listening Games" hard the examiner has just glossed over this on the certificate and said nice things about the good elements. Perhaps your pupil has lovely tone or interprets the pieces beautifully instead.

Don't let her get stressed, just impress on them how the ability to clap a pulse will develop over time. Some children have this ability very early on, I've seen babies who can respond to the pulse in some pysical way; others are still working on it in their teens.

I have a rule with my teaching: no-one is allowed to say "I can't do it." They are instead allowed to say "I can't do it yet", a huge difference in meaning and confidence.

I have a new baby in one of my classes who has just learnt to sit unaided. She either rocks in time to the music or bobs her head from side to side. Very sweet to watch. Another mother simply won't join in any clapping, she says she can't do it, never could and never will be able to!

My younger daughter used to bob up and down in time to the pulse from when she could sit up (ie about five months old). She could even distinguish between two, three and four time and would do an extra big "bob" on the first beat of the bar. She still (at nearly eight) finds it easy to recognise the pulse whereas her elder sister (who didn't react as a baby) finds it much harder.

Thankyou all for your very useful replies!
The student in question has two more lessons before her Prep test so I'll try a few things next lesson. However I will stress to her (AGAIN!!!!) that it's a tiny part of the test itself and she is really good at everything else. I'm sure it will come in time, it's just that I think she feels she should be able to do it because she's good at the rest of the Prep Test. She's also quite shy so I'm not sure how she's going to feel when I ask her to start moving around!!!
I'll let you know how it goes!!!

A shy child may find it much easier to do something if a silly adult goes first to show how it's done...so if you can march round the room first, then have her march with you, then she can feel a lot less silly to carry on marching along while you use her marching as a pulse

There is only one way to develop a good sense of pulse in children - movement, movement, MOVEMENT!!!

I initially use songs where the pulse movement is suggested by the words of the song - eg for 'Cobbler, Cobbler' the children take their shoe off and hammer the pulse on to the sole (then take the other shoe off and hammer with the other hand), or put both shoes on their hands and 'clap' the pulse either by themselves or with a partner. They could also 'stitch' the shoe or 'polish' the shoe in time with the pulse.

In this way the child's imagination is stimulated as well, and it becomes a game rather than a test. Musical skills and concepts have to be TAUGHT, not TESTED...

There are many such songs and rhymes.

Next the child can improvise their own pulse movements to a song such as 'Copy Cat' - they sing the song with their own improvised pulse movement and the class/teacher/partner copies both song and movement. How many ideas can you think of?

Hammerklavier has recently made me 30 foam hearts! These are made out of upholsterers' foam cut into heart shapes and coloured red. The children can squeeze them in time with the pulse of the song/rhyme they are performing (they are fantastic at making up other ways to show the pulse using them, too!). They can also be laid on the floor and the child can tap them with hand or a beater in time with the pulse.

Never believe that because a child can clap in time with the pulse that they have 'got' pulse - they need to walk, sway, click, clap, rock, march, nod, stroke, pass etc etc etc.

I think pulse is probably THE most important aspect of music to be taught, if I had to pick just one area...

Have just spent the day with Cyrilla on a Kodaly course and experienced all the activities in her post. It was all very very good - thank you Cyrilla. Maybe I should have added to my previous post that with my call and response we naturally sway in time with the pulse! New ideas now swirling round in my brain I think it could also be done while walking around the room on the beat instead of swaying. The possibilities are endless. I think the squidgy foam hearts worked brilliantly which I will use to emphasise and reinforce pulse from now on. I will also be using my singing voice a lot more as well as my speaking voice!

Thanks again Cyrilla

I also think the AB should never have taken conducting out of the syllabus by replacing it with clapping. Perhaps it was for the examiners' benefit rather than the pupils' - responses could be heard so that the examiner could keep an eye on the music!

Aww, am so pleased you enjoyed the day, Busy Bee, and got something useful from it. It was very nice to meet you !

I can tell you I'm absolutely pooped now, though ...

*wipes brow*

I'm not surprised!!

It was a long day but one of the best day courses I have attended!

Aha! I was wondering in which grade the conducting part came up as I remember doing it myself and have even shown it to some of the kids. So they don't do it all anymore then... Oh well, it still doesn't do any harm to teach it anyway

Oh I'd forgotten all about the conducting. I remember doing that too! Was it Grade 5?

It might have even been earlier than that. I liked it as well!

The "conductor's baton" I give the kids to use is a black chopstick I found in the kitchen...no expense spared here

Must have been before grade 5 - I can rememeber doing it very early on. I teach all my kids to do it and they love it - I even have a proper baton for them! I try to play in time with them, no matter how badly they conduct - can get interesting at times...

Just an update. After reading your posts and also remembering what I did myself years ago, I got the student to conduct using a chopstick!! I said to her, what would happen if all the players in the orchestra just started playing whenever they wanted to and they all played at different speeds, they need someone to look at to show them the pulse. I showed her how to conduct in 2/4 and then got her to conduct while I played, then 3/4. Then I started playing and she joined in conducting and, hey presto, she could do it!!!!! After a lot of conducting we then transferred to clapping and she did that no problem as well!!!!
I feel so much better and a lot of it is down to you lot for your tips and suggestions, so THANKYOU ALL!!!!

TG have brought the conducting back in from Grade 2. The kids mostly seem to find it fun!