Setup & Purpose

The rhythm chairs game helps students understand how beat and rhythm work together. Each chair represents one beat, and the number of students sitting in the chair shows how many sounds occur on that beat. If it’s a rest, the chair stays empty.

The setup involves 4-8 chairs (depending on meter and game type), sitspots, hula hoops, or whatever object you choose to represent the beat.

• The chair/beats are set out in front facing all students.
  • 4/4 = four chairs, 2/4 = two chairs, 6/8 = two chairs, etc.
• Each chair represents one beat (including silent beats).
• The number of students in each chair represent the rhythm (or the sounds on each beat).
• Students are given a rhythm pattern and asked to sit in the chairs to show that pattern.
• *Optional: Teams or groups should stay in line while playing the game. When it’s time for a team or group to work on a rhythm, they sit in the chairs in line order, then go back to the end of the line when finished. My reasoning for this is under “procedures to follow to avoid chaos”.

I absolutely loved playing this game with my classes, and I’m sure you will too! I used to write each rhythm on the board, but quickly decided that it took up too much precious time. So I created a presentation with varying difficulty levels to make the whole process easier. You can see all of my pre-made game presentations with built-in audio HERE.

Collaborative versus Team Games

In the past, I’ve played this as a collaborative game (the entire class as one team) and as a team game (the class is separated into two or more teams). Both ways can be successful, so it’s really up to you to decide what will motivate your students most. Much to every teacher’s chagrin, classes can respond differently to the same material. Do what works best for your class.

Even in my personal life, I prefer collaborative games over games in which individuals are pitted against each other. I also think collaborative games better represent what typically happens in music performance groups. Students are working as a whole to create their best work, rather than competing against each other to create a winner and a “loser”. Sure, kids need to learn good sportsmanship, but they also need to learn how to work together for the common good. In a collaborative game, students are working to earn the most points possible by doing their very best.

Students can earn two points for each rhythm pattern 

• They earn one point for placing the correct number of students in each chair.
• They earn a second point if the rest of the students can speak/clap the rhythm pattern correctly.

To keep more students actively engaged in creating the rhythm patterns, you can divide into two groups. You can continue the collaborative game style by telling students that you’ll add the points from both groups together, giving them more points overall.

For team games, you play just as you would a collaborative game, except the two groups compete to see who can earn the most points.

Procedures to Follow to Avoid Chaos

As with any game, it’s important that students understand the procedures upfront in order to prevent misunderstandings later. Here are the procedures I explained and demonstrated before each game.

• Students need to stay in line until it’s their turn to sit in a chair. Once a student has sat for a rhythm, they go back to the end of the line.
  • Students should form horizontal lines facing the chair setup. With horizontal lines and everyone seated, students can easily see whose turn is next, and nobody is getting “extra turns” sitting in the chairs.
• Students should stay seated until it’s their turn to be a rhythm. This ensures that students at the back can still see what’s going on.
• Explain that the “majority of students” have to speak the rhythm correctly to earn the point. That way, nobody is tempted to yell at the poor unfortunate soul who speaks a rhythm wrong.
• Modifications are necessary for some rhythms:
  • For barred sixteenth notes, two students can sit on a seat, while two stand directly next to them.
  • For half notes, one students lays down across two chairs.
  • Use your best judgement and knowledge of your unique classroom situation to make adjustments.
• Often times, if a spoken rhythm was too close to call, I would ask the group to say it again. This helped to refocus the group and gave them a little wiggle room to earn another point.
• This is a fantastic tip from my friend Elizabeth from Organized Chaos Music:
  • “One thing I’ve done to make things less awkward for shy kids or “potential couples” who hesitate to share a chair: I made a rule that you have to simply be touching the chair. This also means that if someone else on the team is trying to help and is touching a chair with their hands they will be counted as a note, so they have to be careful to stay out of the way unless they are actually trying to be a note. This has made everyone a lot more comfortable jumping in!”

Variations & Challenges

• For an extra point, ask students to play the pattern on a rhythm instrument. The instruments can also serve as placeholders for students in line. They simply play their pattern, then move down the line to the next instrument as the game continues.
• Ask students to speak the rhythm forward and backward for an extra point.
• Ask students to pat, clap, or snap each rhythm.

You can see all of my pre-made game presentations with audio HERE.

If you decide to play the game with your classes, or if you played it in the past, I’d love to hear about it! Please share your experience in the comments section below. What tips did you find useful? What kind of pitfalls could be avoided? How did your students react to the game?