ABSTRACT
This lesson plan introduces students to the Roland TR-808 drum machine – a device that was central to early rap production – through dictation exercises. Four songs are included for in-class dictation exercises, graded in terms of difficulty. The beats for these songs can be notated on a table (easily created in Microsoft Word or Excel) that mimics the functionality of the machine itself. This lesson plan is suitable for students with little or no musical training, but some work with identifying the beat and counting measures is recommended.
