This is a guest post written by one of our teacher-authors, Katherine (Katie) Miller.
Introduction
Have you heard of 4four.io? Although not as common as a musician might think, it will fast become a classroom favorite once you have a chance to explore it! 4four is a website dedicated to all things rhythm! It has a wide variety of tools and trainers that aim to be quick and easy ways for students to practice rhythm concepts. The simple design of each tool makes them great for even beginner music students.
Another great feature that makes this website a perfect fit for the music classroom is the fully customizable settings included with each tool and trainer. The settings include everything from the rhythms used to which instruments are playing the chosen rhythms and even what tempo works best. I found that there were so many options that it was easy to make an activity a perfect fit for the learners in my classroom.
Besides the assortment of options, 4four is perfect for classroom use because all of the tools and trainers included on the website work on mobile devices and tablets. And, of course, the best part is that they are free to use.
5 Must-Try Tools & Trainers
When you first navigate to the 4four.io website, it is hard to know where to start! There are so many awesome things to look at and try out. Although it was hard to narrow down my favorites, here are the top 5 tools and trainers I plan on introducing to students in my classroom to get them practicing rhythm.
1. Odd One Out
This trainer shows students a 4 beat pattern and also plays a 4 beat pattern for students to hear. The student’s job is to figure out which beat that they see does not match what they hear. I love this trainer because it is a simple twist on many of the rhythm practice activities we do in our classroom already. You could use this as a whole class to warm up or students could practice individually if they have their own devices available.
2. Call and Tap
This trainer requires students to “play back” a rhythm pattern using their device. It is a great practice tool for them to see and hear how their rhythm skills compare. An added bonus is that you can set the accuracy the student must have to continue on. This helps to give students immediate, and somewhat private, feedback for assessing their own skills.
3. Rhythm Dice
There is no longer any need to spend hours making rhythm dice for your classroom! As long as you have one teacher device or several student devices, you can have prep-free rhythm dice to use for any classroom activity!
It is as easy as selecting how many dice you need (1, 2, 3, or 4) along with what rhythms you would like to include.
You can even embed or add a link to the rhythm dice you created by following the instructions here.
4. Bingo
Another great whole classroom activity is bingo! Rather than using that dusty old rhythm bingo in your closet, you can use the website to identify rhythms by sight, sound or both. Teachers can use the fully customizable menu to pick the note and rest values to include and then share the code for students to join the game.
Take a peek at what it looks like from the student’s perspective:
5. Teacher Tools
Somewhat hidden down at the bottom of the webpage, you can find all of the teacher tools. Once you click the link, you will open up all of the features you can use to truly use 4four to supplement and tailor your rhythm lessons to the students in your classroom as well as track their progress by creating a teacher login.
Final Thoughts
What are your favorite tools and trainers? What ideas do you have that would be great additions for the future?
Leave a comment below!
For updates and news, make sure to follow 4four.io on their Twitter page.
Download your copy
Would you like to take a copy of this with you? Click the button below and a copy of this will be sent directly into your inbox.
About Katherine Miller
Katherine (Katie) Miller holds a Bachelor of Music in Education degree from Otterbein University (Westerville, OH) and a Masters of Educational Leadership from Antioch McGregor Midwest (Yellow Springs, OH). She has 15 years of professional musical experience as a music educator and performer.
She resides in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area where she teaches K-5 General Music and serves as a district model tech classroom. She was recognized in 2018 as a WPT Education Innovator by the Wisconsin Public Television Education team. Twitter: K8TMiller
Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.