Beat and Rhythm

In order to create our own songs, we had to look into the different forms that make up a song.

Using the folk song, “Come and Follow Me”, we explored the beat and rhythm.

Using our hands to keep count of beat and then rhythm we determined that beat is steady throughout the song but that the rhythm can change. For example, in “Come and Follow Me”, there were short and long phrases for the rhythm.

“Come and follow me” – long phrase, 5 syllables

“In a line” – short phrase, 3 syllables

The rhythm changed with each line, having 5 beats for the long phrase and 3 for the short. The beat is the amount of time between each syllable and determines the tempo of the song.

Alexis mentioned that, “Keeping the rhythm is easier because you follow the syllables.”