I teach high school instrumental music, and the biggest roadblock with my guitar students and some of the younger (and older) band students is reading rhythms quickly and efficiently. I have always taught through the numbers system (1 & 2 e & a, etc.), but have noticed that many of them are still struggling. I then tried a different approach with “Ti’s and Ta’s” and that seemed to help many of them. I like your concept that is presented here, and have seen it work in the elementary general music classroom. How do you address more complex rhythms, particularly when part of your “huckleberry” is a rest, or if you have rhythms like eighth, sixteenth, sixteenth (and vice versa)?

Thanks for the input!