3 Ways to Teach Fast and Slow

One of the main focuses in Kindergarten and preschool music is musical contrasts, including fast and slow. I have done so many fun lesson activities over the years to introduce and practice fast and slow, but here are some of my current favorites to use with Kindergarten!

1. Little Red Caboose

I'm pretty sure I've been using this since my first year of teaching but it's still one of my favorites! I teach students the song by having them move their arms like the train wheels on the beat while they listen to me sing, then sing along with me. Once they can sing it while moving their arms on the beat we form a "train" and walk on the beat while still singing and moving our arms, and then we gradually speed up until we are practically running around the room! 

2. Fast and Slow Identification

I make the connection with the story of the tortoise and the hare, and then use tracks that switch back and forth abruptly between fast and slow to have students identify which one they hear by moving "turtle hands" on the beat if it's slow, and "bunny ears" on the beat if it's fast. You can obviously use any music that switches back and forth between the two speeds, but I have successfully used this one, this longer one, and of course Hungarian Dance No. 5 is a classic.

3. Encanto soundtrack

The obsession with Encanto has certainly died down a bit since the initial craze but I find my younger students especially still love any reference to the film, and it's fun to use the soundtrack by Gremaine Franco, not just the songs everyone knows by Lin Manuel Miranda, as examples in lessons! I use this after students are comfortable with the concept of fast and slow, because the beat is not as simple for them to hear in these tracks, but I use Meet La Familia (slow) and El Camino de Mirabel (fast). First I have them listen to the first part of each track while patting the beat they hear to decide which is fast and which is slow. Then I hand out a few different types of small hand percussion instruments and have students play along. 

*BONUS: Moana play-along

This one is a challenge for Kindergarten but it's a fun one to use at the end of the year to review both fast and slow and reading quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes with an easy activity that is engaging for students and low prep for me :) 

Of course we practice fast and slow all throughout the year with tons of other lesson activities but these are some of my favorites that really focus on the concept and help solidify it for students! If you want to see some of my other teaching strategies for tempo, including for older students, check out this post: