How to Use Rhythmic Building Bricks in Elementary Music

Rhythmic building bricks are often used in the Orff process and let students take simple rhythms and then create more complex ideas. Let’s look at the basics of how to use them for teachers new to the process and some special extensions for those who’ve used them before.

Simple building bricks using 1, 2, 3, and 4 sounds that can be combined to form more complex patterns.

The Origin of Rhythmic Building Brick

Rhythmic building bricks were designed by Carl Orff’s contemporary, Gunild Keetman, and explained in detail in her wonderful book, “Elementaria.” They are simple note patterns that can be combined into more complex patterns.

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What Are Rhythmic Building Bricks?

Rhythmic building bricks, sometimes called rhythm blocks, are 2-beat patterns using only quarter notes, quarter rests, and paired eighth notes.

Students brainstorm and find words that have the same number of syllables as the simple patterns so 1, 2, 3, or 4 sounds.

Then they string 4 or 8 bricks together to create a more complex pattern.

Teachers often use themes to support cohesiveness to the complex patterns that are created.

Older students can explore bricks in compound meter using 1 (dotted quarter), 2 (quarter eighth), and 3-note (3 eighth notes) combos. Valentine’s Day and February is the perfect time to try this variation.

How Are Rhythmic Building Bricks Used

Halloween/October is the perfect time to use rhythm bricks. Here’s what one class created.

The top of the board shows their brainstorming. The bottom shows the bricks they put together to create a more complex pattern.

Halloween-themed rhythmic building brick ideas.

In the above 8-brick pattern, students used repetition to create their “beat.”

Haunted House (3), Halloween (3), Jack-o-lantern (4), Boo (1). Black Friday (3), Frankenstein (3), candy (2), Boo (1).

Specific Learning Goals

Repetition: It’s a perfect time to teach them about repetition and that it might not sound the best to use “one of each pattern.”

Exploration: When working with a partner or in groups, learning to try different combinations is optimal. The idea of “one and done” is a big NO.

Form: What you create from the new patterns makes a perfect “B” section for a song or poem.

The Halloween beat above would be the perfect B section to an A of Pass the Pumpkin for a final ABA form.

If working in multiple groups, it becomes a great way to teach rondo form. ABACADA where “A” is Pass the Pumpkin and B, C, and D are the 8 measure beats created by different groups.

Tone Color: Taking the patterns and transferring to instruments is a great way to let students learn about tone color. What instrument(s) will sound best with your pattern and the overall theme?

Extensions

Centers

Using whole-class instructions is a great way to learn about and work with bricks. You can extend and expand the learning in other ways.

Individual/Partner/Small Groups: Students can explore in these groupings in a regular class setup or in centers.

Music centers that use rhythmic building bricks with a hiking and animal theme.

Your music center setup will be a BREEZE with this easy-to-use and effective “Create a Songtale” rhythm resource using quarter notes and rests and eighth note pairs in a rhythmic building brick format.

Making Bricks

Make blocks for centers using building blocks or foam cubes. On the building blocks, use stickers or a permanent marker. I sprayed a coat of polyurethane on my blocks and it really helped keep the notes from rubbing off.

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I got the Mega Bloks below from my local Goodwill. Prextex Blocks are currently the closest I can find to them.

Mega Bloks that have been turned into rhythmic building bricks.
Foam cubes that have been turned into rhythmic building bricks.

Written Activities

A rhythm writing activity creating a restaurant menu using rhythmic building bricks made from food.

A fun writing rhythm activity using building bricks where students create a rhythm menu and take-out orders! 

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Ruth Crawford Seeger: Inspiring Young Musicians With Her Remarkable Life!

Ruth Crawford Seeger, composer and folk music specialist, had an amazing career and influence in the world of classical and folk music. Her music was different and exciting because she mixed old and new sounds together. People of all ages still love listening to her music today.

1901: Born on July 3 in Ohio

1919-1921: Attended the American Conservatory of Music in Boston

1932: Married Charles Seeger



1953: Died in Maryland

Ruth and Charles had four children: Mike (folk musician), Peggy (folk singer), Barbara, and Penny. Ruth also had three stepsons Charles, John, and Pete (folk singer/activist.)

Early Music Period (1922-1929)

1920s: Ruth began studying piano performance but switched to composition.

Little Waltz 1922

Try some movement to this piece in ternary form.

ABA
Skip around room.Stop and mirror w/a partner
or the teacher.
Skip around room.
Ribbon wands make big looping circles.Create a different pattern on your own.Ribbon wands make big looping circles.
Step/skip around the room.Float around the room.Step/skip around the room.

Music for Small Orchestra 1926

Listen to the last 2 minutes (video is cued to this spot) for the exciting tempo!

Middle Music Period (1930-1941)

1930: Ruth Crawford was the first woman to win the Guggenheim Music Fellowship

String Quartet 1931

This string quartet was her most famous and influential work. Here’s the beginning of movement 4. Can you imagine it as the music for a movie? What would be happening on the screen?

Rissolty Rossolty 1939

1930s: Began writing down and arranging American folk music and working with Alan and John Lomax. Here’s an arrangement of the folk song Rissolty Rossolty.

Risseldy Rosseldy on TPT

This classic tongue-twisting folk song now has a sparkling Orff arrangement for your students in grades 3-6.

Also included is a listening lesson with coloring sheet for Ruth Crawford Seeger’s instrumental piece, Rissolty Rossolty!

Late Music Period (1942-1953)

Suite for Wind Quintet 1952

This two-movement piece is another of her classical modernist works. Pick an animal for each instrument and describe what they are doing in the first 2 minutes of the piece. Bassoon, clarinet, oboe, horn, flute.

Bounce High Bounce Low With NEW Rhyme And Orff Arrangement

Find engaging ways for your students to play BARRED INSTRUMENTS with a NEW easy-to-teach rhyme melody and Orff arrangement, that goes with the CLASSIC song Bounce High Bounce Low.

This song is perfect for you to prepare, present, or practice “la” with its so, la, so, mi pattern as well as for you to teach quarter and paired eighth notes.

Bounce High Bounce Low song with Orff arrangement and new rhyme melody.

The new rhyme extends the learning into a beautiful ternary ABA form and is part of this practically no-prep, multi-lesson resource.

The resource includes:

  • A presentation in both PPT and Google Slides versions
  • A VIDEO of the song arrangement in both presentation formats
  • A PDF copy of the sheet music

Not enough barred instruments? On the bordun, use Boomwhackers or ukuleles. On the melody, use melody bells or Boomwhackers.

❤️❤️❤️ The ukulele part can be played using a C6 chord-ALL OPEN STRINGS! Check it out!

PS. There’s a wonderful call & response creative activity that incorporates rhyming, geography, and music terms! WHAT? Yep, SO fun!

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Vivaldi’s Spring With Orff Arrangement, Movement, And More

Are you looking for the classics taught with ACTIVE music-making?

This resource with lots of movement teaches students to play and sing (new Spring lyrics) the main theme to Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto with Orff barred instrument ostinati, AND a recreation of the thunderstorm using instruments.

What I love about this resource!

  • PLAYING this famous theme, not just LISTENING to it
  • The “B section” thunderstorm is SO fun
  • Learning with speech and movement
  • Differentiated with the use of colors, images, and stepwise learning
  • An ARTS Integration activity-draw a picture!
  • Teacher helpers with
    • higher-order questions
      • “I Can” statements
        • pre-filled checklist that can go into your evaluation folder

Waltz of the Drumsticks (The 1-2-3 Turkey)

This 2-chord song for voice, ukulele, and rainbow instruments (Boomwhackers & bells) is sure to be a hit! There’s no warbling going on here, just cantabile singing!

This song features:

  • 2 chords-G7 and C
  • 3/4 meter
  • ABA form
  • some terrific turkey rhyming

Sheet music is available on my Teachers Pay Teachers page.

Cephalopod Squid Game


What’s here!

  • The parts are a just a framework. Let the kids explore how to create the sounds in measures 4-6.
  • The second note “A” in the melody sounds bent to me so not quite A and not quite Ab.
  • I used the games they play in the show, but wouldn’t it be fun to let your classes create their own B section with their favorite games.
  • This is not the original key so you could play around with other tonalities.
  • The vocal part can easily be played on the recorder. Mmm…
  • The melody is really popular on TikTok right now but might not work at some schools. Discretion advised.

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