Hip-Hop Groove: Down Bounce, Up Bounce and Rock on the Kick Drum

A musicality session about where groove comes from: knees bouncing down or up on the beat and a torso that sways with the rock. Students learn to hear the kick and the snare and pick the groove each track calls for.

How to play

1. Listen without moving: three different beats; tap the kick with one hand and the snare with the other (4 min).
2. Down bounce (body drops on the beat) and up bounce (body rises on the beat), mirrored in two facing lines (7 min).
3. Rock: torso sways forward and back on top of the bounce; try it double time and half time (6 min).
4. Card challenge: each pair draws a card (down, up, rock, half time) and holds it for eight phrases while another pair guesses which one it is (8 min).
5. Debrief: which track called for which groove, and why (5 min).

Rules

• Groove starts in the knees: never locked.
• Dance with the music, not against it: if you lose the beat, stop and listen.
• In the challenge, the watching pair only names the groove, no comments on style.
• Keep the volume moderate so people can hear each other.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with visual impairments: work with light shoulder-to-shoulder contact with a partner to feel the bounce.
• Deaf students: rest a hand on the speaker or the wooden floor to feel the kick; the teacher points it out with an arm signal.
• Ankle injury: seated groove on a chair, torso and head only.

Learning goals

• Tell the kick from the snare in a beat.
• Perform down bounce, up bounce and rock while keeping the beat.
• Choose a groove based on the feel of the music.

Equipment for a class of 25

• speaker: 1
• cards: 30

Teacher tip

Make the cards in two minutes by cutting sheets of paper into quarters. The common mistake is bouncing the head instead of the knees: have students watch their shoulder height.

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