ABSTRACT
Steve Reich’s 1972 Clapping Music, with its absence of pitch content, can form the basis for a distilled investigation of how rhythm and meter can project structure, form, and progression. Through a combination of lecture, group work, class discussion, listening, performance, and composition, this lesson plan provides a method to introduce and apply beat-class machinery to the piece, guiding students to an analysis that reflects their aural experience. A detailed, step-by-step outline is provided, which can be adapted based on student background and length of class session.
