Last month I introduced one of my students to John Philip Sousa. We practiced marching to develop a greater sense of the beat. He is six so I also brought a page for him to color while we listened to Sousa marches. After tracing the letters of “John Philip Sousa”, he wrote a few lines about himself as a musician: “My family is obsessed with music. I am a drummer. I am a guitarist.”

When my young students have trouble keeping the beat because they are distracted by the rhythm, we practice moving to the beat. Whether through marching, dancing, or other physical activity, encouraging your young children to move in time with the music will help them to develop their internal sense of beat.