No.141
Body-Percussion Canon: Start Four Beats Later
Japanese name: 足踏みリズムの輪奏（4拍遅れて始める）
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Diagram key
- C
- Footstep
- D
- Rest
- E
- Clap
- F
- Tap your knees lightly
- G
- Beat
- H
- B starts on shared beat 5.
Materials
- Stable chairs or mats
- Optional: a card showing the eight-beat movement sequence
How to play
- Leave the fire to its designated manager. Sit in two groups. Choose a beat leader to count 1–8 repeatedly at a steady pace.
- Practise “foot, foot, clap, rest, knee, knee, clap, rest.” Tap the floor gently for “foot,” clap for “clap,” pat your knees gently for “knee,” and stay silent for one beat for “rest.”
- Group A starts alone on beat 1. Group B waits four beats, then starts its own beat 1 on A's beat 5. Both groups keep repeating the same eight-beat sequence.
- Keep your own sequence rather than switching to match the other group's sounds. The beat leader keeps a steady tempo. If lost, listen briefly and rejoin on your own group's next beat 1.
- Continue for about 30 seconds. The beat leader raises both hands and everyone stops. Discuss the sound, swap which group starts first, invite a new beat leader, and play once more.
Ways to adapt
For younger children, place an adult beside each group to signal its first beat. If needed, let one adult form one group and everyone else the other. Replace foot taps with light fingertip taps on the palm when feet are not used.