Beat Maker is a step sequencer made for primary school music. Children tap squares to place drum sounds (kick, snare, clap, hi-hat, shaker and clapsticks), a melody on an 8-note pentatonic or major scale, and a bass line. They change the elements of music as they go: tempo, dynamics, duration, timbre and texture. Then they build three patterns (A, B and C) and arrange them into a song with a form such as ABA or rondo. Learn mode has guided challenges that check the music automatically, and finished songs can be saved, shared as a link or downloaded as a WAV sound file.
Top Tip
Start with a kick drum on every beat so you can feel the pulse, then add a snare on beats 2 and 4. Keep the melody to a few notes at first: the pentatonic scale sounds good whichever squares you choose, so you cannot play a wrong note.
Skills You Are Practising
Keeping a steady beat and building rhythm patterns
Composing a melody that moves up and down in pitch
Choosing tempo, dynamics and duration to create a mood
Hearing and choosing timbre (tone colour) for each part
Building thin and thick texture by adding and removing parts
Organising music into a form such as ABA or rondo
Recording and sharing their own composition
In the real world
Music producers, film composers and game sound designers use step sequencers and song arrangers just like this one. Pop songs, advertising jingles and school assembly music all use a steady beat, a repeating bass line and parts that come back, like verse and chorus.
For parents & teachers
Ask your child to clap the beat along with the kick drum while the pattern plays.
Ask "How does this make you feel?" then change the tempo or dynamics together and listen again.
Play one row on its own with Solo, then bring the others back, and talk about thin and thick sound.
Listen to a favourite song together and try to spot the parts that repeat, like a chorus. That is form.
Who it suits: Foundation to Year 2: tap drum sounds to make a steady beat, try loud and soft, fast and slow, and a short melody. Years 3 and 4: choose timbres, use mute and solo to hear texture, and make an ABA song. Years 5 and 6: use dynamics like crescendo across a song, write a repeating bass ostinato, try swing and arrange a rondo, then record the finished piece.
Australian Curriculum v9.0
This game practises these content descriptions. Tap a code to see its full wording and other games for it.
AC9AMUFC01(Foundation The Arts)create arts works that communicate ideas
AC9AMUFD01(Foundation The Arts)use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas
AC9AMU2C01(Year 2 The Arts)select and combine elements of music when composing and practising music for performance
AC9AMU2D01(Year 2 The Arts)develop listening skills and skills for singing and playing instruments
AC9AMU4C01(Year 4 The Arts)manipulate elements of music to communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning when composing and practising for performance
AC9AMU4D01(Year 4 The Arts)develop listening skills and skills for manipulating elements of music when singing and playing instruments
AC9AMU6C01(Year 6 The Arts)manipulate elements of music and use compositional devices to communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning when composing and practising music for performance, and notate, document and/or record the music they compose
AC9AMU6D01(Year 6 The Arts)develop listening/aural skills and skills for manipulating elements of music to achieve expressive effects when composing, singing and playing instruments