Electrocardiogram Basics

by Greg Crowther

This jingle, originally written for Biology 242 at UW-Bothell, outlines the basic components of an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). Be sure to look at an ECG trace while studying these lyrics.

Atria depolarize,
But their repolarization is obscured;
Ventricles depolarize,
And their repolarization then occurs....

CHORUS:
P wave! And QRS complex!
T wave! And back to rest -- oh, yes!

Electrical! Mechanical!
They're different events you shan't confuse.
P waves are quite brief, and yet
The atria contract from Ps to Qs....

CHORUS (twice)

P wave!

• sheet music (with melody play-back)

Songs like this one can be used during class meetings and/or in homework assignments. Either way, the song will be most impactful if students DO something with it, as opposed to just listening.

An initial, simple follow-up activity could be to answer the study questions below. A more extensive interaction with the song might entail (A) learning to sing it, using an audio file and/or sheet music as a guide, and/or (B) illustrating it with pictures, bodily poses, and/or bodily movements. The latter activity could begin with students identifying the most important or most challenging content of the song, and deciding how to illustrate that particular content.

(1) Are the P wave, QRS complex, and T wave action potentials?

(2) Why is the repolarization of the atria obscured?

(3) During which portion(s) of the ECG do the ventricles contract?

(4) Considering the specific content covered by this song, is there anything important that is missing, unclear, or misleading? If so, what?