Rhythm Blocks
Learn rhythm online: build bars, listen and play along with Rhythm Blocks
Rhythm is not a gift, it is maths you can feel: a bar has four beats, and each beat divides into two (eighths), three (triplets), four (sixteenths) or five parts (quintuplets). Rhythm Blocks makes that division visible. You put blocks on the beats, hear the bar and play along with the metronome – clapping, on the table or on your instrument.
Three levels: “Kids” works with the Fretster alphabet – one letter is one bar, dots are hits, gaps are rests. “Intermediate” mixes quarters, eighths and triplets, “Pro” adds sixteenths, offbeats and quintuplets. The tempo runs from 40 to 200 beats per minute, and a timer keeps the session short: five focused minutes beat half an hour on autopilot.
Why it works: the brain learns rhythm through prediction. When you see, hear and tap a bar at the same time, eye, ear and hand link up – that is the difference between “roughly there” and “right on the beat”. From lessons you get exercises as a link with ready-built bars and tempo; at home they open with one tap. Free, no sign-up, in the browser.
Frequently asked questions about Rhythm Blocks
Who is Rhythm Blocks for?
For everyone who is “somehow off” when playing and does not know why. Children from preschool age manage the letter level without reading notation. Adult beginners on guitar, piano, bass or drums use the intermediate level, advanced players the pro level with sixteenths and quintuplets.
How do I practise properly with Rhythm Blocks?
Build a bar or pick a ready exercise, set the tempo slow enough that it works reliably, and count out loud. Then speed up in steps of five to ten beats per minute. Clap first, then play it on the instrument. Five minutes a day beat one long session a week – that is what the timer is for.
What is the difference from a metronome?
A metronome only gives the pulse. Rhythm Blocks shows what happens between the beats – eighths, triplets, sixteenths, rests – and plays it for you. Once you have seen and heard the subdivision, you keep the pulse even with the metronome off. For pure tempo training the metronome is right next door among the mini-programs.
What do the letters in the kids level mean?
The Fretster alphabet: each letter stands for a bar of four quarter notes, a dot is a hit, a gap is a rest. Children read rhythm this way before they know notation and build a whole verse from four letters. Exercises from lessons can be sent as a link, so at home exactly the same letter sequence appears on the screen.
Does Rhythm Blocks work on my phone?
Yes, in the browser on phone and tablet, no app. Sound starts after the first tap, as in all mobile browsers. For longer bars a tablet screen is more comfortable; for clapping along the phone is more than enough.
Rhythm with someone who listens?
Blocks are the start. In lessons in Munich you hear immediately where the timing wobbles – and get the exercise for it. Drums, guitar, piano, bass or voice, in Obersendling (Hatzelweg 25) or in Allach (Gustav-Otto-Bogen 13).
Drum lessons in Munich · Music lessons for children · Drum Studio · Metronome · All mini-programs