Body Percussion · Hand Clapping · Grades 5–6
How to play Sevens, the hand clapping and body percussion game for grades 5–6. Quarter rest, augmentation and diminution — played in unison, double time, and half time. One of the best activities for teaching these concepts in upper elementary, with a partner version for advanced students.
The three tempos
Sevens is called "Sevens" but actually contains eight beats — the eighth beat is a quarter rest that gives everyone time to breathe before the next section. The pattern has four sections, and the magic is doing all three tempos simultaneously with different groups.
The whole class learns the pattern together at a single tempo. Keep the tempo very slow until everyone has mastered all four sections. This is where to spend most of the first class.
Once the pattern is secure, split the class. One group performs at normal tempo; a second group performs the same pattern at double the speed (diminution). Both groups perform simultaneously.
Add a third group performing at half tempo (augmentation). The half-time group is deceptively difficult — the tempo is so slow that it's easy to lose count. This group needs a leader. All three groups perform simultaneously.
About this activity
Sevens is called "Sevens" but there are actually eight beats in the pattern — the eighth beat is a quarter rest that allows everyone to pause and breathe before the next section begins. This is worth pointing out to students: even the name of the activity illustrates a musical concept.
The real power of Sevens is the augmentation and diminution teaching. Once students can perform the pattern in unison, splitting the class into groups at three different tempos creates a live demonstration of the same rhythmic material stretched and compressed simultaneously. Students who understand it intellectually often find hearing it in real time transformative.
"If some kids already know Sevens and are very proficient, have them come up and lead the group. See if they can break down the last section to teach the class. Kids sometimes learn more quickly from each other than from us."
— Deborah Skydell Pasternack, The Singing ClassroomThe partner version adds another layer of challenge — once students can do the pattern easily on their own, they try it one-handed with a partner. Try pairing left-handed students together and right-handed students together so each can use their dominant hand, then have them switch to their weaker hand. The same augmentation/diminution activities work in the partner version.
Sevens is also excellent for reviewing quarter rest with older beginners — the rest is structurally essential to the pattern and impossible to miss.
Teaching guide
Keep the tempo very slow until the class has mastered all four sections. Rushing at this stage makes the later multi-tempo work impossible. If some students already know Sevens, have them come up and help teach — particularly the last section (where you cross your arms). Students sometimes learn more quickly from each other than from the teacher.
At the second class, split the class. One group performs at normal tempo; a second group performs the same pattern at double speed. Both groups perform simultaneously. This is the students' first live experience of diminution — the same pattern compressed in time.
At the third class, add the half-time group. This group performs the pattern at half speed — and this is deceptively difficult. The tempo is so slow that counting is easy to lose. The half-time group needs a designated leader. All three groups performing simultaneously creates a complete live demonstration of augmentation and diminution.
Once students can do the pattern easily on their own, introduce the one-handed partner version. Pair left-handed students together and right-handed students together so each can use their dominant hand. Then have them switch to their weaker hand. The same unison, double time, and half time activities can all be done in the partner version.
After experiencing all three tempos, show the score that compares them. Once students understand the concept of a theme being drawn out (augmentation) or shortened (diminution), they can apply it to other songs. Pentatonic songs are largely fail-proof for this — try taking a familiar pentatonic song and performing it at double and half time.
Common questions
Sevens is a body percussion and hand clapping pattern with four sections, performed to a chant. Despite being called "Sevens," the pattern actually contains eight beats — the eighth beat is a quarter rest that gives everyone time to breathe before the next section. The pattern is first learned in unison, then split into groups performing at normal tempo, double time (diminution), and half time (augmentation) simultaneously. The full teaching sequence is demonstrated in The Singing Classroom video.
Sevens is designed for 5th and 6th grade. The augmentation and diminution concepts are the primary teaching goals, which require the rhythmic sophistication of upper elementary students. However, the activity is also excellent for reviewing quarter rest with older beginners — the rest is structurally unavoidable and makes the concept concrete.
The eighth beat is a quarter rest — a silent beat that allows everyone to breathe and reset before the next section begins. So the audible, active content is seven beats, but the full rhythmic unit is eight. This discrepancy is actually worth discussing with students: it illustrates how rests are real musical events, not just silence. You can show students the score and have them figure out how the rest fits into the notation.
Augmentation means stretching a musical theme out in time — performing it more slowly so the note values are doubled. Diminution is the opposite — compressing the theme so it moves twice as fast. Sevens teaches both concepts simultaneously by having three groups perform the same pattern at three different tempos at the same time. Once students understand the concept with Sevens, they can apply it to any song — pentatonic songs work particularly well for this extension activity.
More upper elementary body percussion
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See teaching guide →The real problem
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