The Counting Game

By Lenny Rountree

Educators, whether you are breaking the ice in your classes during those first six weeks of school or looking for an activity to free your students from the overwhelming pressure of school demands, have them participate in this game. “The Counting Game” is my circle game and the quickest elimination game I’ve ever conducted, certainly one of the funniest. I developed this game for my band class elective at Woods Academy years ago and have tweaked it in subsequent years. It’s a fairly simple game and concept, born of the need to introduce kids to the concept of counting the beat in music.  It helps students realize how fundamental counting is, toward creating a high quality music performance. All ages can benefit from this game and have lots of laughs.

Gather everybody together in a circle, either standing or sitting, with everyone facing the center. You would serve as the guide and referee, leading the students in learning how to count the “steady beat” in music. It is best to start the game with the players performing the steady beat in “quarters” which is, to say the numbers without articulating the subdivisions. To count in “quarters,” you speak the words “one” “two” “three” “four,” repeating that cycle continuously. Also, it is best to begin the game counting in 4/4 time or common time, so that after a player says “four” the next player says “one.” One student will begin by saying “one,” then the student next to them in the circle says “two,” and so on, until everyone has added the word that articulates their portion of the count.

Your students speak the count alternately, in sequence, around the circle, but in even time, as if performing. The student who is late or early in speaking their part in the count is called “out,” and leaves the circle. I usually have that person choose a percussion instrument to accompany, or have them just watch and monitor the counting. Students will also learn to subdivide the “steady beat” by saying, “one” “and” “two” “and” “three” “and” “four” “and” “one” “and” etc.

With every departing player, the remaining players scoot their chairs or move themselves closer in, making the circle formation smaller. In order to be the last musician victoriously left, you have to discipline yourself to really stay attentive and figure out how to cue yourself, to add your word in perfect time during the performance, not a split second too soon or late. Once a person is called “out” and has left the circle, the person who would have followed them will start the count again, except they will have the opportunity to choose the direction the count will audibly travel around the circle, either from their left or right. They will indicate their choice of tempo by clapping. Here is where you can explain BPM or “beats per minute” and have a metronome handy to further demonstrate the differences in “tempo.” The student who starts off the counting can choose the method by which the steady beat is to be spoken, which will be either in “quarters,” “8ths”(“one” “and” “two” “and” “three” “and” “four” “and” “one” “and”), or “16ths” (“one” “ee” “and” “ah” “two” “ee” “and” “ah” “three” “ee” “and” ah” “four” ‘ee” “and” “ah” …).  You will find that the game will quickly progress until only two players are left, sitting or standing, facing each other. At this point it is mandatory that they count in “16ths” until one of them emerges as the “winner.”

You will probably be amazed at how fast people are called “out” which usually gets everybody laughing. Some players will beg and plead to stay in the circle arguing their case with an excuse that will seem to be a stretch or an outright mangling of the truth that you just observed. It’s all in good fun and the real prize is that by the end of the game they will know what it means to count the steady beat in three different ways (quarters, 8ths and 16ths). You can use the game as a gateway to another activity, in that the people who are called “out” can staff a team or band, depending on what you have planned.

Things to watch out for would be the tendency of some to ridicule, tease, or even physically antagonize the player who was just called out. I don’t allow this. Be sure to set your expectations and lay down some ground rules before you start. You don’t have to be a music student or music teacher to do this game with a small group. It is a great way for people to practice being attentive.

My guitar students at Lowell summer camp this year really loved to play “The Counting Game,” and by the end of camp they knew how to count in quarters, 8ths, and in 16ths. In essence, by having fun with the game, they expanded their music vocabulary and understanding of meter.

“The Counting Game” is a great way to build and maintain community in your classroom. Music teachers, to make for a greater musical challenge, try using different time signatures, having students count triple meters like three-four or six-eight time. Once this game has been played a few times, you might consider deepening their understanding of meter with a lesson on odd and compound meters. You can play audio examples of artists who have created interesting music within these time frames. I personally like to use King Crimson’s “Larks Tongues In Aspic III,” Angela Bofill’s “Under the Moon and Over the Sky,” and Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo A La Turk.” Consider adding this game to your teacher toolkit.

 -Lenny Rountree (musician, recording artist, author, and educator)