The grid adds a great visual component that helps students understand musical concepts without having to worry about music theory or traditional notation. They could use the Song Maker to explore melodic shape and harmony. Students can create their own songs, they can re-create familiar songs, remix them, or compose a new ending. Uses for the Song Maker tool are endless. In short, you can customize the song maker to meet your learning objectives and the needs of your students. To take song creation one step further, through the Settings menu, you can adjust the song length, number of beats per bar, beat subdivision, scale (major, chromatic, or pentatonic), starting pitch, and range. In addition, from the main screen you can choose between several melodic and rhythmic sounds and even change the tempo! This really expands the musical possibilities. Within the Song Maker, you can add both melodic and percussion components to your creation. It’s also possible to add notes by using the arrow keys on the computer keyboard. Using a grid, you click in the boxes to add sounds to the song. The Song Maker tool is the most robust within the Chrome Music Lab. Students can create rhythm patterns to use as an accompaniment to a song or warm-up they are working on.

Have students explore meter, experimenting with the various grid templates.

Students could then notate the pattern they created using standard or iconic notation, or work in groups to perform the rhythm.

Have students create their own rhythm patterns in a specific meter.

Regardless, the Rhythm tool is still fun to use in any music classroom. For example, you can’t change the tempo or instrument sounds. The simplicity of use makes the Rhythm tool so great, however, that means the creative options are limited. To add to the experience, cute creatures playing percussion instruments accompany each grid.

The rhythm pattern loops as it plays, providing a rhythmic ostinato. There are four grid templates, each with a different number of beats – three, four, five, or six beats per grid.

Chrome beat lab