Meter Maids

Oh no! The piano broke and all the notes spilled out everywhere. No worries…call the Meter Maids: The Menders of Musical Messes!

Overview

You are part of the Meter Maid Team and your job is to clean up the Musical Mess. Organize the notes and rests into Chords and Measures following the rules of rhythm.

Components

• Chord Card x3
• 3/4 Meter x3
• 4/4 Meter x3
• 5/4 Meter x3
• 6/4 Meter x3
• Teamwork x10
• Bar x6
• Repeat x6
• Half Note x14
• Quarter Note x21
• Eighth Note Pair x21
• Rest x10

Game Setup

1. Stack the Meter & Chord Cards:

Stack all of the Meter and Chord Cards into groups and set them aside. There should be 3 of each Meter/Chord Card in a stack, making four stacks of three of the same Meter Cards each and 1 stack of three Chord Cards. For a shorter game, you can reduce the number of Meter and/or Chord Cards in each stack.

2. Set aside the Teamwork Cards

3. Form the Musical Mess, Mystery Pile, & Starting Hands:

Shuffle the rest of the cards and give each player two random cards. Place a small number (around 15 cards) aside facedown to form the Mystery Pile. Spread out the rest of the cards faceup, forming a mess of overlapping cards in the middle of the table.

Setup Examples:

Alternative Setup: If the Musical Mess proves too messy, you can choose to instead create 5 stacks of faceup cards. Players may draw any face up card from these stacks and/or chose to draw from the facedown Mystery Pile. All five stacks of cards should be similar in size.

The Turn

Choose ONE of the following actions on your turn:

A. Draw

Draw 2 cards from the Musical Mess and/or the Mystery Pile. You may draw one from each or even two cards from the mystery Pile. The cards you draw from the Musical Mess must be on top (not be underneath any other card).

*If using the Alternate Setup, you must draw the top cards of any of the five stacks and/or draw from the Mystery Pile *

B. Organize

Claim one of the available Meter or Chord cards:

– Claiming a Meter Card: In order to claim a Meter Card, you must play enough Note and/or Rest Cards from your hand to fill one measure in the claimed meter. The note cards must be ascending in order, and you MUST play at least two note cards into a meter (Rest Cards are NOT considered Note Cards).

*Example: Susie takes the Organize action. She has 4 cards in her hand. Three of these cards are quarter notes: A, B, and C. Her fourth card is a Rest Card. She claims the 4/4 Meter Card and places 3 quarter notes (A, B, C) and uses her Rest Card as a Quarter Rest, playing it sideways at the end of the measure to show the quarter rest. *

– Claiming a Chord Card: In order to claim a Chord Card, you must play 3 (or 4) Note Cards of the same value. These notes must stack on lines or spaces on the staff. For instance, you could play 3 Half Note Cards (A, C, E) or 4 Eighth Note Cards (AB, CD, EF, GA). Three card chords are worth 7 points; Four cards are worth 10!

*Example: John takes the Organize action. He has 5 cards in his hand: quarter notes: A, C, E, and G, as well as a Rest Card. He notices that he can claim a Chord Card with his four quarter notes because they can all stack on spaces within a staff. John claims the Chord Card and plays these notes, stacked, next to his claimed Chord Card. Because he played the fourth note in the chord, his Chord is worth 10 points instead of the normal 7. His Rest Card cannot be played as part of a chord *

C. Replace

Replace one Rest Card in another player’s claimed meter with one Note Card from your hand following all rules of rhythm. You keep the Rest Card you replaced and take a Teamwork Card worth 3 points at the end of the game! If a player has multiple Rest Cards in a measure you must replace the Rest Card closest to another Note within the meeasure.

Example: Susie has claimed a 4/4 Meter with 3 Quarter note Cards (A, B, and C) and a Quarter Rest. John chooses the Replace Action and replaces Susie's Quarter Rest with either a Quater Note "D" OR two eighth notes "D-E".

More Rules

Rest Cards – Rest Cards MUST be placed at the end of the measure and are played sideways. You can choose to use the Quarter OR Half Rest on a Rest Card but not both.

Bar Cards – Instead of claiming an unclaimed Meter Card when you take the “Organize” action, you may add another full bar of notes and/or rests into a meter you have claimed previously by using a Bar Card. Your new measure can start on any note. You may NOT use a Bar Card after a repeated measure.

Example: John has claimed a 4/4 Meter previously. On this turn he decides to take the "Organize Action" but instead of claiming a new Meter, he plays his Bar Card to the right of his 4/4 Meter claimed previously, and then plays enough notes/rests to form a second measure in the 4/4 meter.

Repeat Cards – When you claim a Meter Card you may also play a Repeat Card from your hand at the end of the measure to double the points of the claimed meter. Once you play a Repeat Card, you cannot play any more Bar Cards to extend that meter. However, you CAN play a repeat card afyer a Bar Card is played to double the points of multiple measures.

Ending the Game

The game is over immediately when all of the Meter/Chord Cards have been claimed OR the Musical Mess is empty. The maid with the highest score wins!

How to Score

1. Calculate your Meter/chord score:

Each claimed Meter/Chord card is worth points (notated in the star on the card).

Full Set Bonus: If your Meter includes notes A-G (even over multiple measures using a Bar Card), your meter is worth +5 points.

2. Add your Teamwork Points:

Each Teamwork Card is worth 3 points.

3. Subtract Your Clutter:

At the end of the game, each card left in your hand is worth -1 points.