Little children are compelled by meter—the organization of beats. They are drawn into the way beats go together. They attend, explore, sort, and compare aurally just as they might tangibly a set of stacking cups. Repeated exploration of different sized cups leads to a developing sense of size. Repeated experience with a variety of meters leads to a developing “sense” of the organization of beats—a “sense” of meter. Music learning requires a sense of meter—a non-verbal understanding of the organization of beats.
Young children have much to teach us about rhythm, unencumbered by music theory, counting, or mathematical relationships. They explore and manipulate raw sound, examining how beats go together and discovering patterns aurally rather than intellectually. That aural “sense” is the “essence” of music learning—the very source we need to reach and teach. The more we uncover the wonder of the young child’s musical mind, the more we understand the process of music learning, and the more skilled we become as teachers of music.
The musical mind processes beat groupings, with attention to how those beats are divided. The big beats, “macro beats,” are divided into “micro beats.” How those macro and micro beats are grouped gives rise to meter. Young children know that a sense of meter provides a structure within which rhythm makes sense to the musical mind; an internal grid within which rhythm falls into place. They know that a lone beat has meaning only in relation to other beats. They know that a sense of meter provides the foundation for all music learning.
