Rhythm Cup Explorations News! Issue 2
It’s time for another edition of Cup News! I wanted to share more of the wonderful tips that others are sharing while using this resources.
Are there accompaniment tracks available?
There are! I guess some of you have never seen these, but they are super cheap at only $5.99 and there are 3 different tempos for each track and a track for each page! Listen to samples or buy here.
Can we slow the tracks down more?
Yes, no problem. Just download AnyTune on your iPad or iPhone and you can slow them down without changing the pitch! You have to have them added to iTunes in order to access them easily (easiest way to do this is on your Desktop where you can just drag and drop into iTunes). Consult the Store FAQs for more tips in getting things to your iPad.
How can I display the copies so that all students can see them?
There are many different ways of displaying your copies, and you can certainly do what’s best for you. Here are some suggestions:
Print on card stock and/or laminate the page. Then, place a box in the middle of the table. Lean the pages against the box. This allows you to have students on four sides of the table. Obviously, you may need more copies or more than one box if you have a long table.- Just place them on the table directly in front of 1-2 students each. This is easiest and is what we do all the time!
- Display it on the monitor of your computer or iPad if you only have a few students and everyone is on one side of the table.
- Use a document holder like this one. You can easily lean another card stock print on the other side of the sign holder.
- Use 2 sided sign holder. These allow there to be a print on both sides. If you have direct light, you might consider searching for an anti-reflecting sign holder, but these seem to work fine for me.
I’d love to see more videos and pictures of teachers and students using them!
Me too! And you know I love to share about other creative teachers, so send me a YouTube link of your video (or even the video itself) and I’ll put the best ones on the website link back to your studio page (or if you don’t have one, just mention how wonderful you are by name)! In the meantime, here are some you might not have seen before:
Fun Videos Highlights:
Fun Photos:
I used Rhythm Cups for the first time this week during Repertoire Classes. My littles – ages 4 and 5 – were able to do the quarter notes and we got as far as learning how to use the cups, tapping quarters notes on the table, and one was able to make the shift to tapping on the cup with her left hand. They loved the play along tracks. One got all excited about the “stomping” music. The older students caught on quickly (we had a couple who wanted to “fiddle” with their cups and so we had to have some solid rules), but other than that they did well – even to the passing. It kept there attention to move quickly and go from the slower tracks to the faster. I did not get any video because I was helping with the counting. I am going to add this to my activities in private lessons – especially for the younger students.