4 Rhythm Activities for St. Patrick’s Day

It is always fun to do holiday-themed activities with piano students! With St. Patrick’s Day coming up I wanted to share 4 Irish-themed rhythm activities to use with your piano students this month. They can be used in individual lessons or they also make fun group activities! These are all included in my Irish Piano Pack, available as a digital download in the shop.

Counting Clovers

In this activity, students listen to 8 classical piano pieces and determine if there are 3 or 4 beats per measure. They then color in the 3-leaf clover or the 4-leaf clover.

The Lilt O’ the Shamrock

This activity is the same as Counting Clovers except you play traditional Irish songs! Students listen and try to determine if there are 3 or 4 beats per measure. This is such a helpful activity to improve students’ sense of rhythm and to develop their musical ears.

Shamrock Measures

Here is a great activity for your intermediate to advanced students. Shamrock measures is great practice for clapping and counting tricky rhythms. Students clap and count the rhythms and decide if there are 3 or 4 beats per measure, and then circle the corresponding 3- or 4-leaf clover. Rhythms include sixteenth notes and triplets.

Clap and Count Clovers

Here is a great rhythm clapping activity for individual students or groups! Print and cut out the clover flashcards. Students draw a card, then starting to the left of the stem they clap and count the rhythm, going clockwise round the clover. (The dark green clovers have 3 beats and the light green have 4 beats.) The student can repeat the clover rhythm several times until they get it down.

For an extra challenge, shuffle the cards (3-leaf clovers and 4-leaf clovers in separate stacks!) and then place several in a row on the piano to create several measures of a rhythm for your student to clap and count. Turn on the metronome for an extra challenge.

Students may also choose a note or a five-finger position on the piano and play some notes to the rhythm while counting aloud.

In a group setting, have students sit in a row or in a circle and hand out a card to each. Turn on the metronome to keep everyone on the same tempo and see if each student can clap and count their measure on their turn without missing a beat!

Get these 4 activities and others in the Irish Piano Pack!

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