Want a Quick Rhythm Activity Featuring Iconic Female Bands?
A Rhythm & Body Percussion Play-Along Featuring Iconic All-Female Groups
March is an exciting time in the music classroom! In the States, we celebrate both Women's History Month and Music In Our Schools Month—a perfect opportunity to highlight influential women in music while reinforcing rhythm skills with engaging activities.
To celebrate, I created a rhythm play-along video and a body percussion play-along built around a medley of songs performed by four iconic all-female groups spanning four decades of popular music. These activities help students practice reading and performing rhythms while connecting to music history in a fun, energetic way.
Students practice and perform rhythms using:
Whole notes
Half notes
Quarter notes
Eighth notes
Quarter rests
The play-along format makes this activity ideal for whole-class participation, centers, or quick rhythmic warm-ups.
🎥 Rhythm Play-Along Video
This play-along features short excerpts inspired by songs recorded by legendary all-female groups. Students read and perform the rhythms while listening and moving along with the music.
Featured Songs & Artists
🎸 The Go-Go’s – “We Got the Beat”
The The Go-Go's formed in California in 1978 and became one of the most successful all-female rock bands of the 1980s. Their debut album Beauty and the Beat made history as the first album by an all-female band who wrote and performed their own songs to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
Members featured on the recording include Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine, and Jane Wiedlin.
“We Got the Beat” remains their signature song and an energetic favorite for rhythm activities.
🎤 The Supremes – “Baby Love”
“Baby Love,” recorded by The Supremes, became one of the defining hits of the Motown era. Released in 1964, the song topped the charts and helped cement the group’s place in music history.
The trio—Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard—became one of the most successful vocal groups of the 1960s.
🎤 Destiny’s Child – “Survivor”
“Survivor,” from the album of the same name, was recorded by Destiny's Child and became one of the group’s biggest hits. The Grammy-winning group—Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams—turned a joking comparison to the television show Survivor into a powerful anthem of resilience.
The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts and remains one of the most recognizable pop songs of the early 2000s.
🕺 Sister Sledge – “We Are Family”
The disco classic “We Are Family,” performed by Sister Sledge, became one of the most recognizable songs of the late 1970s. The group—Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge—helped define the disco sound of the era.
Although the song peaked at No. 3 on the charts, it has remained an enduring anthem of unity and celebration for decades.
🎸 The Go-Go’s – “We Got the Beat” Return
👏 Body Percussion Play-Along (Perfect for Younger Students)
If you teach younger grades, try the body percussion version of the activity. Instead of reading notation alone, students perform rhythms using:
Claps
Stomps
Step-slide
"Shh"
This version works beautifully for primary grades, movement breaks, and kinesthetic learners.
Body percussion clipart used in the activity is credited to Midnight Music.
https://midnightmusic.com.au/2020/12/midnight-musics-body-percussion-clipart-library/
🧰 Free Classroom Manipulatives
To help your students actively participate in the rhythm play-along, I created printable manipulatives and classroom materials you can use alongside the videos.
These include:
Rhythm PDF and PPT files for whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes
Quarter rest visuals
Student participation cards
Materials for both the rhythm play-along and body percussion version
👉 You can download the manipulatives here:
https://buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech/extras
These resources are perfect for:
Whole-class rhythm practice
Centers or small-group work
Sub plans
Quick Music In Our Schools Month activities
🎶 Try It in Your Classroom
If you’re looking for an engaging way to combine music history, rhythm literacy, and movement, this activity is a great addition to your March lessons. Your students will love performing rhythms to these iconic songs while learning about influential women in music.
🎥 Watch the rhythm play-along video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wvue2OT-FA
🎥 Watch the body play-along video:
🧰 Download the manipulatives:
https://buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech/extras