
Don’t copy this one is an easy game which students can play on their first session.
It’s a variation on the children’s game “Simon says“.
The teacher plays a simple rhythm on one note (pick any note) and the students have to repeat it.
The repeated phrase should follow immediately in the time and tempo of the original.
E.g. four equal notes (1 2 3 4) repeated back (1 2 3 4) etc
Once the students have the idea and are confidently repeating whatever the teacher plays you can introduce the “don’t copy this one” element of the game:
The students should repeat the rhythm played UNLESS the rhythm is “don’t copy this one”!

The idea is to catch the students out, but they usually get the idea very quickly. When that happens you can vary the rhythm to be avoided to keep them on their toes eg “don’t play this one back” etc!
Once they have the idea of the game, give the students the chance to lead the game, one at a time. This is good for checking that each student is producing notes ok, and helps build their confidence.
You can also ask the student leading to pick the note to be used which helps with note recognition.
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