Touchpress Limited has released Steve Reich’s Clapping Music – a free iOS game that’s designed to improve your rhythm.

It does this by challenging you to play Steve Reich’s ground-breaking work, Clapping Music, a piece of music performed entirely by clapping.

Steve Reich’s Clapping Music app is part of a research project, designed to explore if gaming experiences can help people learn musical skills.

Reich’s piece Clapping Music (1972) explores the idea of a phase canon. Two performers start by playing a simple rhythm together. One performer speeds up slightly, so that the two performers get out of sync, creating a series of new syncopated rhythms. The piece continues until, after cycling through 12 different 8th-note relationships, the two performers return to being in sync.

Here’s Steve Reich introducing the app:

To play, you tap the screen in time with the constantly shifting pattern, and progress through all of the variations. If you slip up or your accuracy falls too low, it’s game over.

Features:

• Improve your sense of rhythm by playing Clapping Music
• Play through three levels of difficulty – can you become good enough to perform?
• Hone your skills in Practice Mode
• Find out more about Steve Reich and his work with interviews and performance footage
• Completely free with no in-app purchases
• Enter competitions for the chance to attend workshops and even perform the piece live

Steve Reich’s Clapping Music is a free download from the App Store.