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Syncopation: Call and Response

Goal: To improvise with syncopations with social activities.

Out of Tempo

All Levels

“Out of Tempo” exercises are not presented separately in Ear Training III and Ear Training IV improvisations. Should any exercise prove difficult performed in tempo, out of tempo versions of the materials in Ear Training III and Ear Training IV can be modeled on Ear Training I and Ear Training II approaches to out of tempo improvisations.

In Tempo

Teacher sets up a tempo, time signature, tonality, rhythms.

Start with one note per measure and add different rhythms as students become more comfortable with the exercise. For more confident students, use non-repeating notes and rhythm patterns.

Refer to the Syncopation Smorgasbord for ideas.

Beginning

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “I sing syncopated pattern x and you repeat.”
  2. Students do so.

Intermediate

  1. Student sets up as above and prompts, “I sing syncopated pattern x and you (teacher and/or another student) repeat them."
  2. Teacher or another student does so.

Advanced

  1. Teacher sets up as above and prompts, “I sing syncopated pattern x and y, and you (one student) repeat them."
  2. A student does so.
  3. The process is repeated so that everyone in the classroom shares the two syncopated patterns in tempo.