Start with dividing your class into two teams.  It could be one half of the room vs. the other, woodwinds vs. brass, girls vs. boys, or whatever.  The director will need two copies of the “S.A.S.” sheet (of whichever “Power Grid” you decide to use for the game) to keep track of both team’s performance.  Either the line (or column) selected (or the order in which each team’s members perform) should be random, so each of the team’s solo performers has very little preparation time before their turn to perform.  It is probably best to run a metronome during the competition with the tempo at the speed the director feels is appropriate for the particular “Power Grid” chosen for gameplay (60 bmp normally works well).  Each time a soloist performs the director will put an “X” on the square on that team’s scorecards where the performer plays a rhythm incorrectly.  If you have the time and more than eight players per team, the director can also have each team perform the columns “A” through “H” as well.  If there are more than 16 players per team, the order in which both team’s soloists perform should be random.  You can select the performance lines randomly, or (if you want to perform the card in sequence) alternate the team that plays first in each round.  To get the most out of the Bingo game, you can ask the class (or at least that team) to “tissel” along during each performer’s turn.  On occasion, you may ask one or more of the non-performing students which of the number(s) or letter(s) in that line or column they think was played incorrectly.

Final Scoring and Winners:  Any student that performs all eight squares of their line or column correctly gets one “Bingo” point and also a piece of candy.  Keep an eye on your time and stay with just the lines at first.  When done with all eight lines (if time permits) continue with the columns, or if not, then calculate which team is the winner.  In addition to eight in a row, any six consecutive spaces (vertically or diagonally) also receive one “Bingo” point for their team.  The highest number of points wins and each team member gets a piece of candy.  If there is still a little time left you can offer students individual “challenge” rounds.  You can come up with your own, but I have a few suggestions:     

1.)     Ask for volunteers to play one of the possible columns and give them candy if all rhythms are correct.  You could do so before your final tally of points if you want, just keep an eye on the clock and your class dismissal time.   

2.)    If you have trouble getting volunteers, then do “Sudden Death” matches.  Two volunteers decide to go against each other in a head-to-head competition and the one that has the fewest mistakes wins a candy (and possibly a point for their team).  They could play two of the same, or different columns (or lines), that is up to the director.

3.) “Round Robin” – Start with a randomly selected person on each team and then them, and the next seven consecutive team members, each play (in order) one measure of that line or column.   The team with the fewest mistakes is awarded the “Bingo” point.  This forces students to count rests or follow along while waiting to play their assigned measure and promotes and reinforces the skill of “recovering”.  If a team member makes a mistake or does not play (which messes up the next in line), if further along another team member comes in playing the correct rhythm, AT THE CORRECT TIME, I like giving that team a bonus correct measure for that round.  I refer to it as a “recovery point”.        

Combined “Power Grid” transpositions (Units 1 – 10) can be found attached below.  To access all “Power Grid” transpositions separately visit the following URL:  https://rhythmmastersplus.org/power-grids-units-1-20-pdfs/