"Quest for the Rhythm Master" / "Mortal Kombat"

“Mortal Kombat” (a rhythm counting game)

Initially, this counting game was called “Mortal Kombat,” but there are actually two versions of the game. The original game used a series of rhythm sheets (see attached). Students would compete, clapping and saying the rhythms out loud, playing the exercise line on a single given note, or the eight measures would be played on a concert scale, switching notes at every bar and competitor’s turn. The teacher could run a single scale throughout the competition or select the concert scales randomly, getting more challenging as the game progressed. The second version was titled “Quest for the Rhythm Master.” Both versions were presented initially in the “Rhythm Masters” book series. I also presented the later version with the “No Fear” Rhythm Camps. I offered these clinics to high school bands, on college campuses, and when asked to present the game to the “alternate” students at several past South Carolina Region and All-State Band Honor Band Clinics. This version used the Rhythm Master’s “Power Grids,” giving directors and game facilitators far more options. There was even a “leadership” component that evolved over the ten years I facilitated the game at the Citadel Summer Band Camp coordinated by Major Herbert Day. However, I will go into more detail about that at another time.

During the competition, I would call a team down to the “Arena of DOOM!” (the performance area), where they would stand or sit in any order. I would randomly mix the team’s performing order by changing where the players were sitting or standing. I did this so students could not just memorize how two of the measures were played but had to be ready to play all eight bars in each exercise, not being able to predict which rhythm(s) each team member would be required to play. I would then point to each member and say (out loud) which measure(s) each was assigned to play for that round. If the number of team members was less than 8, we would need to “snake around” back to the beginning until the team performed all eight measures. After the first measure, the next team member would play the second measure, with the students performing one measure per turn until the team completed the exercise line. Full points were deducted for each incorrect rhythm, ½ a point off for hesitation between measures or rushing. I also liked giving one bonus point ( for recovery) if a team got off tempo, but one of the team members pulled them back into tempo with the metronome. Playing an incorrect note rarely occurred when using the “Power Grids.” However, if you felt necessary, you could give a penalty if a brass player was off-pitch.

Attached are the original rules and materials published for the game some thirty years ago in “Rhythm Masters” Book #1. Feel free to make rule changes as you see fit, or give it a “twist” or two to make it your own. You could also use the lettered “rhythm charts” (or “Power Grids”) as counting review sheets to map out your program’s rhythm curriculum. These rhythm review sheets (as presented) are in sequence, with three exercises per level. During gameplay, the first one can be used as an introduction or review for your students, alternating the second two for actual competition. If you decide to perform concert scales as part of your competition, you need to decide if one or more points are to be taken away for each incorrect note. I also discovered later it was best not to go over eight members per team. Four to eight players work best, and when setting up teams, you do not need to have the same number of players on each team. “Byes” are used, so all eight measures are played each round, but players might not play the same number of times.

Also attached is a 32-team competition “bracket chart” where you list the names of each team involved in the competition. This grid allows you to schedule up to 256 players (eight players per team) if needed. At the week-long Citadel Camp, the team competition was ongoing Monday through Thursday, with the “Final” Individual Championships (also using the same bracket chart) being held on Friday. The “Team Rankings” sheet is also attached, which I used to keep an ongoing record of scores, team standings, and team handicaps, as well as what “Power Grids” had already been used for the competition.

Sincerely,

Rich Moon

“Quest for the Rhythm Master”

I want to take this opportunity to go into more detail about the “Quest for the Rhythm Masters” game I mentioned in the last letter. I hope to clarify some of the rules and why certain changes were made in this later version. First, using “Power Grids” as the resource materials for competition made the game a lot more “playing” oriented. I would also start the match by playing the MP3 from the original “Mortal Kombat” movie. It got the kids “pumped up” and created a “game” like atmosphere. I started playing this game with students when the original film came out to give you a time frame reference of when I first introduced the game.

As I mentioned in the first letter, I later added a leadership component, a “spin-off” of a popular “Dr. Tim” clinic at that time. It started halfway through the Citadel Summer Band Camps and evolved from there. At the same time, I was also developing the leadership aspect of the game with several high school programs during May. These directors would use the “Quest” game to help train and audition their upcoming marching season’s student marching staff and section leaders. Those being considered for leadership would be given a team to lead throughout the competition. It also worked having two potential leaders work with the same team to see how well they worked with their peers (a team within a team) and the main body of band students. You would pick up a lot of information about a student’s leadership skills and potential by observing them interact as they teach the other students. It gave the band director some insight into what kind of leader they would be and how successful they might be in the future.

The “Dr. Tim” clinic I mentioned earlier was about different “kinds” of student leadership approaches. He used “birds” to represent the different leadership styles, and this clinic was perfect for identifying the variety of approaches the auditioning students could use as they compared and contrasted them. In other rounds, I would even require all auditioning leaders to be limited to a particular leadership approach. It seemed to help these students discover “who they were” as a leader and which leadership style best suited them. In some cases, band directors would audition their potential leaders as part of a 9th-grade “rookie camp.” Involving in coming band members would give the directors great insight into how well their incoming first-year students could perform as “counters.” Many of these directors felt that the progress in counting rhythms their 9th grader’s achieved at “rookie camp” would have taken them months (possibly a semester) to accomplish during their band class time once school started.

The director would select a particular “Rhythm Vocabulary” presented in a unit of one of the “Power Grids.” The facilitator would first run one or two exercise lines or columns with the full group of students. It was the director’s option if writing the counting out or “clapping” and counting the rhythms was necessary. The director would suggest to his student staff a few potential areas to focus on or “pitfalls” to look out for. The teams would then “break out” into different areas and work with their section leaders to prepare for the upcoming round of competition. I normally spent about 15 to 20 minutes on team preparation at the Citadel Camp. Any amount of time will work, though, as long as each team has the same amount of time. If there was enough room to separate in the “break-out” sessions, the team leaders could have their team practice by playing the exercises. This allowed the leaders to create their own rehearsal strategy for accomplishing the most with their limited time. If all students needed to remain in a single room, the teams would separate as best they could, and the team leaders had to rely on strictly quietly clapping and counting for their team’s preparation.

Handicapping: I found this to be VERY helpful at the Citadel. After all, I had to keep the kids interested for 60 – 90 minutes for five days. Having students from all over the “Low Country,” there was no way of knowing each students playing or counting ability ahead of time. I had to place students in teams randomly and always tried to mix up the schools they were from and the instruments they played. The game got old pretty fast for a team constantly losing in the competition, so “handicapping” was crucial to “equalize” things. As it became apparent which groups were the stronger performers, those teams would start with a lower point total from which points were deducted. The game was not watered down for the weaker teams but made more difficult and challenging for the more talented teams. This tended to keep all of the groups “in the hunt” for the championship up to the end of the competition.

You can also do “Mortal” and “Quest” only as an “individual’s” tournament. The day after a performance (for example), set your students up on a “bracket” chart ahead of time. Here, there is no “handicapping”; the “individuals” format is an elimination tournament. I would have four students compete in each round. Instead of awarding team points for the highest scores, I would eliminate the two lowest scores for that round, and the two higher scores would advance to the next bracket. This shift in procedure would continue up until the “Final Four.” During the Citadel Camp, we ran the “team” competition for the first four days, and Friday was for the individual’s “Final Komabt” tournament. Each team was to select two members to compete from their team in the “Finals.” The final four contestants would also get additional points to add to their team’s total score. The higher up each competitor got, the more points they earned for their team. As the saying goes, “It ain’t over until it is over.” Everyone was vested in Friday’s outcome, so there was a lot of “cheering” and surprises throughout the final tournament.

Prizes and Recognition: You can do whatever you want here, but the more students could win, the more seriously everyone seemed to participate. For the “Final Four,” I would ask local music stores to donate pencils, oils, reeds, and perhaps inexpensive tuners or metronomes. By the way, this was long before the i-phone was invented. Medallions were also a nice touch, but basically, whatever you can get your hands on will be fine. A “sandwich” bag with candy in them for the overall winning team always worked for me. For just a small bag of inexpensive candy, it always surprised me what a motivator that could be. If you did a tournament annually, a “Wall of Fame” plaque (or just a list on the board) would help keep the tradition alive. For a while, I posted the Top Four from each of the band camps I did on my website. The postings included each student’s school, grade, and instrument. We always got a trophy or nice prize (donated, of course) for the final winner. He or she was then designated as the “Rhythm Master of the Low Country” or for that particular school or “camp” for that school year. At the Citadel Camp, it was always fun to see students returning to the following year’s camp to defend their title.

To access all of the Power Grids at www.rhythmmastersplus.org click the URL below:

https://garagebandrhythmmasters.org/power-grids-units-1-20-pdfs/ To see the rhythm vocabulary breakdowns for “Rhythm Master” units 1 – 30, see attached.

Sincerely,

R. Moon