Odd Meter Elephant Chicken Chicken
/I didn't care much for odd meters until I started teaching early childhood music. Once I became a Music Together teacher, and realized you could improvise crazy things in odd meters, then I began to love them!
There is a silly chant in 7/8 in the current Music Together collection. Its a great opportunity to improvise with silly sounds. The 7/8 pattern is 3 beats + 2 beats + 2 beats, or elephant chicken chicken. Elephant is a three syllable word and chicken is two. To get 7 beats you need one elephant and two chickens! You can also make elephant and chicken sounds to play with odd meter.
What other animal combinations can you come up with to make 7 beats? Mix a three syllable animal with a two syllable animal.
Three syllable animals
Antelope
Chimpanzee
Crocodile Bumble Bee
Wolverine Killer Whale
Flamingo Oscelot
Octopus Buffalo
Two Syllable Animals
Baboon, Rabbit, Raptor, Dragon, Llama, Cheetah, Penguin, Puppy, Dolphin, Rhino, Falcon, Eagle, Monkey, Donkey, Beaver, Tiger, Lion, Walrus, Hedgehog, Lizard, Bunny, Kitten, Pigeon, Woodchuck, Toucan, Turtle, Turkey, Lobster