A beat is defined as "a regular, repeating pulse that underlies a musical pattern." All modern music revolves around "the beat" and developing a good sense of pulse will benefit you greatly in your music making.
Here's how you're going to practice your steady beat:
Select a YouTube video for any song you like. Any genre is acceptable for this, though try to find music that has even beats (progressive rock, math rock, experimental noise bands, etc., are not your friends here)
Start the music and feel the beat. When you're confident In where the beat Is, start tapping your foot and saying "down" on every beat.
While continuing to speak and tap your foot, press the M key on your keyboard. This will mute the YouTube audio.
Continue speaking and tapping.
After a few beats, unmute the video by pressing M again.
If your beat has been consistent, you will line up with the song when you unmute
If your beat has been inconsistent, you will find yourself either ahead (speeding up) or behind (slowing down)
Practice this method of finding the beat with different songs. Be prepared to answer these questions:
What is your tempo tendency when doing this exercise? Do you find yourself going too fast or too slow in the silences?
How does the speed of the song affect your accuracy?
For your first assignment, you will be performing a steady beat "check-in" for your teacher using the video linked below.
In the video, a steady beat will be given, alternating sound with silence. You will say the word "down" on every beat, even through the silences.
You have two options for how to perform this test:
Performing live for your teacher
Recording yourself performing the test and submitting a video via Schoology.
Take note that this is not easy even for seasoned musicians, but with a little bit of practice you'll improve in no time!
For this project to be considered complete and receive full credit, it must meet the following minimum criteria:
Student must perform this test with 90% accuracy for tempo.
Following you performance of the Steady Beat Check-In, please fill out the following google form. There are no wrong answers, so feel free to be honest about your performance. All self-assessments are graded based on completion.