Take it to your instrument
The lessons teach the rhythm by clapping it. An instrument plays the same rhythm: each clap becomes a note or a stroke. Pick your instrument below to see, lesson by lesson, what to play and which page in its room teaches it.
From theory: Western theory: note values · Eastern theory: laya
The method
The same two jobs as in the lessons. Tap the count (1 2 3 4) with your foot or one hand until it is steady, then clap the rhythm while the count carries on. That is how you learn where each note falls against the beat. Only then move it to the instrument.
- Press play on the rhythm in its lesson. Tap the count and clap the dots until it feels easy.
- Pick one note or stroke on your instrument. Keep tapping the count and play that one note on every clap.
- Then use the notes or strokes the room page asks for. The rhythm has not changed; only what you do on each clap.
Every rhythm card in the lessons and the catalogue has a Hear and play it on strip. Pick an instrument there and the card plays the rhythm in that instrument's sound and says what each row becomes: Stomp a down-strum, Clap a muted chop, and so on. It works for every rhythm, including the ones no room has a page for yet.
Pick your instrument
Drums
Room: Drums
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | Hi-hat on every beat, with the kick on the 1 so the bar has a start. | First beats |
| 2 · Dividing the beat | Hi-hat in eighths, then in sixteenths, with the kick and snare staying on the beats. | Eighths and sixteenths |
| 3 · Off the beat | Move the kick off the beat, between the clicks. | Putting the kick between the beats |
| 4 · Two parts together | Stomp is the kick, clap is the snare, and the tick row is the hi-hat. Backbeat, four on the floor, then half-time. | Build it one limb at a time · Four on the floor · Half-time |
| 5 · Groups of 3 and 2 | The tresillo on the kit, one voice for each group. | Tresillo, the 3-3-2 cell |
| 6 · Timelines | Son, rumba and bossa clave on the kit, and the bembé bell in 12. | Son clave · Rumba clave · Bossa nova clave · Bembé bell |
| 7 · Grooves of the world | Rock, funk and the other kit grooves: who plays which step, low or high. | Rock and pop · Funk |
| 9 · Threes | A 6/8 groove: two big beats, each cut in three. | 6/8 |
| 10 · Swing and feel | The swung ride pattern and the shuffle. | Shuffle · On the ride |
| 12 · Phrases | A fill is the answer to the groove's question: call, then a one-beat reply. | The one-beat fill |
No drums page for lessons 8, 11 yet.
Guitar
Room: Guitar
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | A down-strum on every beat, harder on the 1 (that is the accent). | Strumming: downstrokes and accents |
| 2 · Dividing the beat | Down-strum on the number and up-strum on the & (eighths). | Strumming: upstrokes on the and |
| 3 · Off the beat | Up-strums only: the ska and reggae skank. | Strumming |
| 4 · Two parts together | Strum on the stomp beats (1 and 3) and play the clap beats (2 and 4) harder or muted. | Strumming: accents and the backbeat example |
| 10 · Swing and feel | The blues shuffle: long-short eighths on the strings. | Blues |
No guitar page for lessons 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 yet.
Ukulele
Room: Ukulele
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | A down-strum on every beat, harder on the 1. | Strumming: downstrokes and accents |
| 2 · Dividing the beat | Down on the number, up on the &. | Strumming: upstrokes on the and |
| 3 · Off the beat | Up-strums only: the offbeat chop. | Strumming |
| 4 · Two parts together | Strum on the stomp beats and chop the clap beats (2 and 4). | Strumming: accents and the backbeat example |
No ukulele page for lessons 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 yet.
Bass
Room: Bass
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | One note on every beat, the root on the 1. | Note values |
| 2 · Dividing the beat | Play the root in quarters, eighths and sixteenths, and know what each is for. The gallop (an eighth then two sixteenths) is the same cut. | Note values · Gallop |
| 3 · Off the beat | Push a note a little ahead of the beat, as in reggae and funk. | Grooves: the push |
| 4 · Two parts together | Your low note is the stomp. Land it with the kick drum. | Grooves: lock with the kick |
No bass page for lessons 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 yet.
Piano
Room: Piano
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | Count bars of 2, 3 and 4 and play one chord on each beat. | Time signatures |
| 2 · Dividing the beat | Write and read bars of quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes. | Note values |
| 9 · Threes | Compound meters: 6/8 felt as two beats of three. | Time signatures |
| 11 · Two at once | Three against two between the hands, built up through the independence steps. | Independence |
No piano page for lessons 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12 yet.
Madal
Room: Madal
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | The three-beat bar: sangini taal. | Sangini taal |
| 3 · Off the beat | Reggae one drop and other offbeat grooves. | World beats |
| 5 · Groups of 3 and 2 | Tresillo and habanera-family grooves on the madal. | World beats |
| 6 · Timelines | Clave-family grooves with the madal's two heads. | World beats |
| 7 · Grooves of the world | Maqsum, baião, one drop, bhangra and cumbia: low and high strokes. | World beats |
| 8 · Cycles | The same cycles adapted for the madal: dadra, kaharba, rupak and jhaptaal. | Tabla taals on the madal |
| 9 · Threes | Jhyaure taal, the 6/8 folk dance groove. | Jhyaure taal |
No madal page for lessons 2, 4, 10, 11, 12 yet.
Tabla
Room: Tabla
| Lesson | What you play | Where to learn it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · The beat and the bar | Four- and six-beat bars: keherwa and dadra. | Keherwa and dadra |
| 5 · Groups of 3 and 2 | Tresillo and habanera-family grooves on the tabla. | World beats |
| 6 · Timelines | Clave-family grooves with the tabla's two drums. | World beats |
| 7 · Grooves of the world | The same grooves with tabla bols. | World beats |
| 8 · Cycles | Keherwa, dadra and teentaal with sam, khali and the bols; more cycles on the classical list. | Main taals · More classical taals |
No tabla page for lessons 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12 yet.