This is always one of the first exercises I teach at the beginning of the year to hook my students right away. To teach, I follow a sequence of "my turn, your turn," and have everyone echo my snaps/ claps in groups of two. Once I've gone through the entire thing, I'll repeat in larger chunks until they can go all the way through slowly. 

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Then, we add the accompaniment. 

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I start off by explaining what to listen for so everyone knows the cue to start, and sing the accompaniment as I model claps and snaps all the way through. We do it together while I sing so they can watch me for a model, and then I let them try it with the piano.

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Once your students get the basic sequence down, you can add the variations:

• first partner

• second partner

• both sides

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This is great for engaging students with the steady beat, and getting them to FEEL tempo. In this video, you can notice that I adjust the tempo each time.

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Some additional variations that are fun to add:

• accelerando

• ritardando

• crescendo

• decrescendo

• call out dynamics (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, etc.)

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If you're brave enough, you could even add a scramble option, and have them walk around the room until they hear the cue, and partner up with who they are closest to!