Eurhythmics based on Snow White! Fun music education for children
The Eurhythmics activity I’m introducing today is based on the fairy tale Snow White.
Let’s use our imaginations to the fullest and fully enjoy the world of Snow White!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
First, here’s a wordplay activity themed around Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I think it’s relatively easy to tell apart the melodies of Snow White and the seven dwarfs.
Snow White’s melody is a slow triple meter, while the Seven Dwarfs’ melody is a brisk duple meter.
Translation
When Snow White’s melody plays → sway side to side.When the Seven Dwarfs’ melody plays → march energetically.
Decide that in advance, and when the music changes, try switching your body movements!
How you dance or walk is, of course, up to you.
But the point is to clearly change how you use your body.
Since the nature of music in triple meter and duple meter is completely different, be sure to feel that clearly and move accordingly.
Triple meter is the rhythm for dancing.
Triple meter is said to be a dance rhythm, and Japanese people are genetically poor at handling music in triple time.
Because exposure to music in triple meter began after the Meiji era, when Western-style dance culture was introduced; before that, Japan did not have a musical culture in triple meter.
Therefore, it is said that many Japanese people are not good with triple meter.
But it’s okay!
If you're exposed to a lot of music in triple meter from a young age, your body will naturally learn to respond well to triple time!
By the way, the key to feeling and dancing a good 3/4 time is:
- Taking large, relaxed steps sideways
- Move your hands and arms largely and softly.
These two.
Even so, there are still some children who don’t know how to keep a 3/4 rhythm and whose movements become awkward as soon as it switches to 3/4. In such cases, it’s helpful to try holding hands with someone who’s good at keeping a 3/4 rhythm (a friend or a parent) and do it together.
By doing so, you can feel the triple meter through your joined hands and gradually learn to keep a good three-beat rhythm on your own.
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs & the Prince
From here, one more character will appear. The prince makes his entrance.
Here is the video ↓
The prince’s melody is composed of dotted eighth notes and sixteenth notes.
Like this↓
This is commonly referred to as the rhythm of a skip and is often used with horse motifs.
See, doesn’t this rhythm feel like a horse running?
This time I thought, “When you think of a prince, he makes his entrance on a white horse, right?” so I tried using this rhythm for the prince’s melody.
By the way, this skipping rhythm is, alongside triple meter, one of the rhythms children tend to struggle with.
But if you listen to it over and over from a young age and move your body, eventually your body will naturally be able to catch the rhythm of skipping.
So it’s okay if you can’t skip well at first.
First, take a little stroll around the room as if you were riding a horse, and enjoy the rhythm of skipping.
As you keep doing that, you’ll gradually be able to take steps that feel a bit like skipping!