---
title: Why do teachers clap a rhythm before the class plays it? — Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm · tree and pragmatics
description: Why do teachers clap a rhythm before the class plays it? Test 11 · ★ of lesson 2 «Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm» of the arts course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was right.
---

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# Test 11 · ★ · Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Why do teachers clap a rhythm before the class plays it?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** teachers, class · **What happens:** clap, play · **To what, where:** rhythm

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 11 · ★ of lesson 2 «Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm» of the arts course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/arts/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/#t11).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t11:1
# text = Why do teachers clap a rhythm before the class plays it?
1	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	teachers	teacher	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	clap	clap	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rhythm	rhythm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
10	plays	play	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **clap** | present · do-support | teachers | a rhythm |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location rhythm=Theme |
| 2 | **play** | present | the class | rhythm |  |  |  |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Saying or clapping it first makes it easier to feel

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t11:o1:1
# text = Saying or clapping it first makes it easier to feel
1	Saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	csubj	_	_
2	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
3	clapping	clap	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	conj	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	obj	_	_
5	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	6	advmod	_	_
6	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	easier	easy	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	xcomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **clap** | gerund |  | it |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location it=Theme |
| 3 | **make** | present | Saying | it |  |  |  | easy, first *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |
| 4 | **feel** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Clapping warms up the instruments so they sound better

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t11:o2:1
# text = Clapping warms up the instruments so they sound better
1	Clapping	clapping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	warms	warm	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	up	up	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	instruments	instrument	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	sound	sound	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
9	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warm up** | present | Clapping | the instruments |  |  |  |  | vn cooking-45.3 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent instrument=Patient |
| 2 | **sound** | present | instruments *= instrument* |  |  |  |  | good *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It stops the class from playing at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t11:o3:1
# text = It stops the class from playing at all
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	stops	stop	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	class	class	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	from	from	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	playing	play	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | present | It | the class |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality class=Eventuality |
| 2 | **play** | gerund |  |  |  | all |  |  | vn performance-26.7-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It tells the teacher who is listening

```conllu
# sent_id = question:arts:2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm:t11:o4:1
# text = It tells the teacher who is listening
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	tells	tell	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	listening	listen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	acl:relcl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | It |  | the teacher |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent teacher=Recipient |
| 2 | **listen** | present · progressive | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/t10/)
- next →: [Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm, exam 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/e1/)
- ↑ back to [Reading music: notes, beats and rhythm](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/arts/2-reading-music-notes-beats-and-rhythm/)