Syncopation in the classroom

In the final week of my PEx or prac this year, I was given the task of teaching syncopation to a year eight class.

First I asked the students to find a connection between these images:

Then we listened to some of Cory Wong's Funk tune Starship Syncopation.

We clapped, we hit the tables, we even sang a recent Disney hit thanks to this post of Ethan Hein's blog.

We didn't talk much about jazz, because I wanted to offer another lens from what was already valued at their school.

In the same lesson, we also discussed rubato via hip hop, including which of the two examples they preferred in this video.

It felt like a really good lesson. The students were attentive and curious. They were comfortable asking questions, sharing their preferences and the reasons behind their choices. I think this is in part, thanks to taking a more pluralist approach to teaching these musical elements!