Worked example · Music · Year 7

Step sequencer rhythm grids

DCF: Producing → Creating digital content

What this is

A secure Year 7 response, annotated so you can see which success criterion each part meets. It is also your answer key. Part A: kick on steps 1, 9 and 11 (“1”, “3”, “3 &”); backbeat on steps 5 and 13. Part B: the two grids below. Part C: 120 BPM = 0.5 s, 2 s, 0.125 s; 100 BPM = 0.6 s, 2.4 s, 0.15 s; 90 bars; 13 hits per bar, 1,170 hits in the song. Part D has no single right answer; “Tonnau” is one good example.

Part A — reading Grid 1

(a) The kick plays on step 1 (“1”), step 9 (“3”) and step 11 (“3 &”).

(b) Beat 2 is step 5 and beat 4 is step 13, so the backbeat is on steps 5 and 13.

Each step number is matched to its count, including the off-beat kick on step 11, which is the one most pupils miss. Evidences criterion 1.

Part B — the two grids

Grid 2 — four on the floor

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Kick (pat thighs)●●●●
Snare (clap)●●
Hi-hat (tap desk)●●●●

Grid 3 — the pushed kick

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Kick (pat thighs)●●●
Snare (clap)●●
Hi-hat (tap desk)●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Grid 2: kick on 1, 5, 9, 13, and the hi-hat only on the “&”s (3, 7, 11, 15) with none on a beat. Grid 3: the “& of beat 2” is correctly placed on step 7, and the hi-hat fills all 16 steps. Evidences criterion 2.

Part C — how long is a step?

Tempo One beat lasts One bar (4 beats) lasts One step (¼ of a beat) lasts
60 BPM60 ÷ 60 = 1 second4 seconds0.25 seconds
120 BPM60 ÷ 120 = 0.5 seconds4 × 0.5 = 2 seconds0.5 ÷ 4 = 0.125 seconds
100 BPM60 ÷ 100 = 0.6 seconds4 × 0.6 = 2.4 seconds0.6 ÷ 4 = 0.15 seconds

(a) 3 minutes = 3 × 60 = 180 seconds. At 120 BPM one bar lasts 2 seconds, so 180 ÷ 2 = 90 bars.

(b) Grid 1 has 3 kicks + 2 snares + 8 hi-hats = 13 hits per bar. Over 90 bars that is 13 × 90 = 1,170 hits. A drummer would have to play every one of those; the sequencer only needs the 13 squares switched on once.

Every value has its working shown, the units are given, and (b) notices why a sequencer is useful: you program one bar and it repeats it. Evidences criterion 3.

Part D — my pattern: “Tonnau” (Waves), 100 BPM

Bar 1 — step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Kick (pat thighs)●●●
Snare (clap)●●
Hi-hat (tap desk)●●●●●●●●
Bar 2 — step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Kick (pat thighs)●●●
Snare (clap)●●●●●
Hi-hat (tap desk)●●●●●●

Rule 1: the kick is on step 1 of both bars. Rule 2: the snare is on beats 2 and 4 (steps 5 and 13) in bar 1. Rule 3: my surprise is the kick on step 8, which is “2 a”, just before beat 3 — it makes the kick on step 9 feel like it is being pushed. Rule 4: in bar 2, steps 1 to 12 are the same as bar 1, then the hi-hat stops and the snare plays all four steps from 13 to 16, a quick roll that leads back to the start.

All four rules are met and checked one by one, and the pupil can say what the surprise hit does to the feel. Evidences criterion 4.

Part E — can someone else play it?

(a) Nearly. My partner played the kick on step 7 instead of step 8, because my dot was drawn on the line between the two squares.

(b) I would redraw the step 8 dot in the middle of its square and write “2 a” under it, because the surprise hit is the whole point of the pattern and it is the easiest one to misread.

The improvement comes from what actually happened when someone else read the grid, which is the real test of a clear score. Evidences criterion 5.

Why this response is secure