As discussed at Brian Blood's website,
music is composed of strong beats and weak beats. The first beat is always strong
and is followed by a weaker beat. In 4/4 time, the beats follow a
Strong
Weak
Medium
Weak
pattern and in 3/4 time, the pattern is
Strong
Medium
Weak.
The instruments commonly known for maintaining a sense of rhythm are the bass & drums. They often
repeat the same pattern, and often have notes that fall on strong beats. In
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,
the bass notes fall on the strong beats, and enter the music after the Lowery Organ
riff. The song changes to cut time or
alla breve in the chorus (2/2).
Many songs that are written have a 4/4 meter, and sometimes the meter of a song can change. In Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, the meter changes from 3/4 to 2/2 at 0:48 (note the use of drums to establish the new meter.) At the end of the 2/2 meter, the bass re-establishes the 3/4 meter that is used in the verse. During the alla breve section (0:48 - 1:07), the tempo speeds up. The meter of this Lennon & McCartney song changes several times. In addition to the choice of meter, the choice of instruments can have a profound effect upon the feel of a piece of music. Meter, tempo and instrumentation all work together to form movement.
Many songs that are written have a 4/4 meter, and sometimes the meter of a song can change. In Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, the meter changes from 3/4 to 2/2 at 0:48 (note the use of drums to establish the new meter.) At the end of the 2/2 meter, the bass re-establishes the 3/4 meter that is used in the verse. During the alla breve section (0:48 - 1:07), the tempo speeds up. The meter of this Lennon & McCartney song changes several times. In addition to the choice of meter, the choice of instruments can have a profound effect upon the feel of a piece of music. Meter, tempo and instrumentation all work together to form movement.
The three common time signatures in music are 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4. The upper number indicates how many beats there are in a
bar and the lower number indicates the type of note that is the unit of measure for that bar (8 = eighth note, 4 = quarter note and
2 = half note). The same amount of time passes in a 6/8 measure as a 3/4 measure, and twice as much time passes in a
4/4 measure than a 2/4 measure. As shown below, beats occur at regular intervals.
In the second 6/8 measure, there is a triplet (first three notes) that lasts one beat. This tuplet is commonly used in music and essentially slows down the rhythm that is occurring. In Lennon & McCartney's song There's A Place, triplets occur in the vocals at 0:23, 0:26 and 0:52. Groups of 3 equal notes are derived from compound time signatures, and the three 6/8 measures are displayed in 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4 as follows (the tempo changes accordingly to equalize the timing = 4.5 seconds):
In written music, there are a wide variety of time signatures; some have 2 beats per measure, some have 3 beats per measure and some have 4 beats per measure. The most common signatures in use are 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 and 12/8. Most published music uses these time signatures. The important thing to remember is that dotted notes receive one beat in compound time. A dotted quarter note lasts just as long as three eighth notes. In 2/4 and 4.4, triplets are groups of three notes borrowed from compound time signatures. A quarter note triplet lasts as long as 1 half note and a eighth note triplet lasts as long as 1 quarter note.
In the second 6/8 measure, there is a triplet (first three notes) that lasts one beat. This tuplet is commonly used in music and essentially slows down the rhythm that is occurring. In Lennon & McCartney's song There's A Place, triplets occur in the vocals at 0:23, 0:26 and 0:52. Groups of 3 equal notes are derived from compound time signatures, and the three 6/8 measures are displayed in 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4 as follows (the tempo changes accordingly to equalize the timing = 4.5 seconds):
In written music, there are a wide variety of time signatures; some have 2 beats per measure, some have 3 beats per measure and some have 4 beats per measure. The most common signatures in use are 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 and 12/8. Most published music uses these time signatures. The important thing to remember is that dotted notes receive one beat in compound time. A dotted quarter note lasts just as long as three eighth notes. In 2/4 and 4.4, triplets are groups of three notes borrowed from compound time signatures. A quarter note triplet lasts as long as 1 half note and a eighth note triplet lasts as long as 1 quarter note.
The standard method for counting out rhythms has been taught to many people
(including myself), but it isn't the only method that can be used. Another alternate method is shown
below it. Note the use of words that have the same rhythm as their respective notes. Many people (including myself) who
learnt to read music for band classes have been taught rhythms with the first method, but this method is not the only one
that can be used to teach how long to hold each note.
With respect the diagram shown below, start the first beat at 6 o'clock and make one full circle per beat. Note when your circling goes past 12 (duple division or 1/2 beat), 6, 9, 12, 3 (quadruplet division or 1/4 beat) and 6, 10, 2 (triplet division or 1/3rd beat). As with the first method. count half beats as "1 and", 1/4 beats as "1 e and a" and triplets as "1 lay lah". If it's a triplet in a 1/2 or 1/4 division, make sure the triplet is even at 6, 10, 2 on the clock. It is important to recognize where each beat falls and which notes are part of that beat. There are rhythmic divisions in written music.
To improve one's sense of rhythm, Listening to music is also necessary, in addition to reading the way it is notated musically. With computer music, the instruments are artificial & can be generated using soundfonts. The quality of the sounds generated, and the tones produced by each virtual instrument, are just as important as with the real instruments. The virtual instruments presented at Sounds Online were all sampled from real instruments, just like the instruments I used in In My Life. Whereas the latter uses soundfonts, the former is a software virtual instrument -- that could be re-sampled (i.e. recorded) to produce a soundfont.
Rhythm is an integral part of music and many well melodies are built upon such rhythms. A good example is Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Provided here are both backing instrumentation and the original recording of the composition. Even though they are repetitive, without the rhythms that drive the song forward, the song would not be the same -- and somewhat lifeless.
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Backing Track
Piano Cover
The melody is well known, and the underlying rhythm is never missing (the two go together). With respect to pop, compare the following two recordings (A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues / I Saw Her Standing There) and ask yourself this question: "What did Lennon & Paul McCartney base their song's rhythm on?" Though not exactly alike, there are similarities. Lennon & McCartney are known for taking an entire song's chord progression and adapting it to their own use. In 1962, they altered Twist & Shout and their version sticks out in people's minds today -- even though the original is also available.
With respect the diagram shown below, start the first beat at 6 o'clock and make one full circle per beat. Note when your circling goes past 12 (duple division or 1/2 beat), 6, 9, 12, 3 (quadruplet division or 1/4 beat) and 6, 10, 2 (triplet division or 1/3rd beat). As with the first method. count half beats as "1 and", 1/4 beats as "1 e and a" and triplets as "1 lay lah". If it's a triplet in a 1/2 or 1/4 division, make sure the triplet is even at 6, 10, 2 on the clock. It is important to recognize where each beat falls and which notes are part of that beat. There are rhythmic divisions in written music.
To improve one's sense of rhythm, Listening to music is also necessary, in addition to reading the way it is notated musically. With computer music, the instruments are artificial & can be generated using soundfonts. The quality of the sounds generated, and the tones produced by each virtual instrument, are just as important as with the real instruments. The virtual instruments presented at Sounds Online were all sampled from real instruments, just like the instruments I used in In My Life. Whereas the latter uses soundfonts, the former is a software virtual instrument -- that could be re-sampled (i.e. recorded) to produce a soundfont.
Rhythm is an integral part of music and many well melodies are built upon such rhythms. A good example is Dave Brubeck's Take Five. Provided here are both backing instrumentation and the original recording of the composition. Even though they are repetitive, without the rhythms that drive the song forward, the song would not be the same -- and somewhat lifeless.
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Backing Track
Piano Cover
The melody is well known, and the underlying rhythm is never missing (the two go together). With respect to pop, compare the following two recordings (A Shot Of Rhythm & Blues / I Saw Her Standing There) and ask yourself this question: "What did Lennon & Paul McCartney base their song's rhythm on?" Though not exactly alike, there are similarities. Lennon & McCartney are known for taking an entire song's chord progression and adapting it to their own use. In 1962, they altered Twist & Shout and their version sticks out in people's minds today -- even though the original is also available.
| On a piano, the black keys are enharmonic. Each enharmonic note can be represented by two different notations: one makes use of a sharp and the other makes use of a flat. Note the use of naturals in the 2nd diagram to cancel sharps and flats within the same measure. Use of sharps, flats and naturals is important in music -- and as in the 2nd example, there is more than one way to display written music. In large part, how music is displayed largely depends upon the key signature used. As shown in unit 4, C major has no sharps or flats. That is the key signature that is used to the right. |
 
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