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Christmas Carols With Different Starting Intervals

Don’t discard those worn-out Christmas carols! While they’re still fresh, they make a great educational tool for children (and others) to learn intervals.

By associating a song you already know with an interval, you can immediately sing that interval.

Here’s an incomplete list of Christmas carols whose opening interval starts with various intervals.

Any other suggestions?

Minor 2nd ascending

I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas

Minor 2nd descending

Joy To The World (the first line is a complete major scale descending)

Major 2nd ascending

Silent Night

Ding Dong Merrily On High

Major 2nd descending

Deck the halls

Minor 3rd ascending

Jingle Bells (chorus)

Major 3rd ascending

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night

Perfect 4th ascending

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Away In A Manger

12 Days of Christmas

Perfect 4th descending

O Come All Ye Faithful

Perfect 5th ascending

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Major 6th ascending

The Holly And The Ivy

Octave ascending

The Christmas Song (chestnuts roasting on an open fire)

You can also learn to sing intervals by singing scales. For more, please visit:

15 Lessons On How To Develop Basic Musicianship Skills

15 of my basic music theory lesson posts are about developing basic musicianship and ear training skills.

Musicianship is where theory meets practice.

Tap basic rhythms, sing major and minor scales, recognise intervals, match chord notes and more…

Try it!

If you found this post helpful, please feel welcome to like, share or leave a comment. If you have any questions, leave them as a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. To stay up to date with new posts, please subscribe.

PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

POSTS: Posts

B18. Listen And Sing: Learn To Recognise The Notes Of A Major/Minor Chord

This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.

This lesson contains a few exercises you can use to teach yourself how to recognise and sing individual notes within a major chord.

Note recognition within a chord is a very useful skill. It’s the basis of working out harmonies; in fact, of arranging in general. It’s also the starting point for solos/lead lines and improvisation.

Listen and Sing

This exercise is the practical equivalent of the exercise in recognising triads from B15. Chord Voicing: Inversions Of Triads.

The idea is to strip a chord down to its content; to sing each different note in the chord at an octave that’s well within your vocal range, starting with the lowest note of the chord.

Some major and minor chords contain notes played at more than one octave. If you stay within the comfortable part of your range and match these notes in your octave, you’ll end up with just 3 notes for each chord, all within 1 octave.

Once you can sing the content within 1 octave, you will be able to recognise one of the triad inversions you learnt at the beginning of this post.

The following exercises feature a major/minor chord played four times. The first and third times the notes are played together but the second and fourth times they are slightly arpeggiated: you can briefly hear the notes one after the other. If you have trouble hearing the individual notes within the chord, focus on the arpeggio to start with.

Method

Listen to each chord several times. In particular, listen for the lowest note.

As you listen, try to sing the lowest note of the chord at an octave that’s towards the lower end of your vocal range.
You want to sing a low note, but not one that’s too low to sing properly. If it’s too low, try an octave higher.
If you have trouble deciding which is the lowest note, listen to the “answer” a few times and then go back to the exercise. There is no such thing as cheating, just learning 😊. You can find the answers at the end of this post.

Once you’ve found the lowest note, sing up the scale until you find the next match.
Continue once more to find the third note of the triad. Once you’ve found 3 different notes, any higher notes should match one of the notes you’ve found (if not, it’s not a plain major or minor chord).
Sing the three notes as a triad.
Match the sound (the pattern of intervals) with one of the major triad inversions you learnt in B16. Listen And Sing: Learn To Sing Major And Minor Triads.

The notes are played as an arpeggiated triad in the “answers” at the end of this post.

Example

Listen to the chord and follow the above steps:

You should end up singing something like bar 2 below.

The first bar shows the chord, the second bar shows the content as a triad built on a singable octave of the lower note.

You can check how you went by singing along to the movie. Keep singing bar 2 while you hear the repeat of bar 1.

Try These…

Major Chords

Minor Chords

Mixed

Can you tell whether the chord is major or minor?

Note: Depending on your musical life experience, you may find some of these exercises difficult. Take your time. Just do a little each day and you’ll soon master them.
In the meantime, you can continue with the rest of this course.

How To Tell Which Note Is The Root Note

If you can sing the notes in triad order from the lowest note up, listen for the interval of a perfect 4th as you sing.

The upper note of a perfect 4th is the root note.
In root position there is no perfect 4th. The lowest note in the triad is the root note.

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers to Try These…

When you’ve listened to these answers once, try singing the triad notes in the second bar while you hear the chord in the first bar.

If you had trouble picking out the notes the first time, go back to the audio question and try again once you’ve felt how the notes fit.

Don’t worry if these exercises take a few attempts. Many musicians develop such skills by years of playing and listening.

Major Chords

back to exercises

Minor Chords

back to exercises

Mixed

back to exercises

B17. Chord Voicing: Doubling And Note Distribution

A chord’s inversion is the most significant aspect of chord voicing. However, the pitch order and distribution of the other notes still have some bearing on the chord’s overall sound as well as on how the music flows from one chord to the next.

In many genres, the exact details of chord voicing are left up to the player. To do this well, players should be aware of the effects of different voicing options.

The approach to voicing in the context of a piece is highly dependent on genre and beyond the scope of this beginner course. However, being aware of the parameters goes a long way towards developing a sense of flow in a chord progression.

Inversions are certainly the best place to start: the bass notes of chords are easily felt as a coherent part. When you’re ready, you can add more finesse by tweaking the pitch order of the other chord notes.

Doubling: More Is More

Doubling means to have more than one note of the same name. Usually notes are doubled at a higher or lower octave. If your instrument permits (or if the chord is played by an ensemble) you can also double a note in unison.

Like inversions, doubling a note makes it a more prominent part of the chord, although the effect is less powerful than the chord’s inversion.

Doubling the root note makes the chord more stable and helps it to represent the key.
Doubling the 3rd highlights the major or minor tonality.
Doubling the 5th creates ambiguity, highlighting the potential for a chord change where the 5th becomes the root note of the next chord. This chord change doesn’t need to follow: the sense of ambiguity can also be maintained as part of the chord’s character.

Try This…

The following C major chords are all in root position, with each chord featuring a different doubled note.

Listen for the root note in each chord and sing or play the root note along with each chord, in an octave you can manage. It’s the same note for all three; the lowest note, C
Now listen for the strongest note in each chord and sing that note. This time it’s not the same for all three chords. Is it the note that’s doubled?

Doubled, most doubled

If more than one note is doubled, the note with the most representatives, either in other octaves or in unison, will contribute most to the chord’s character.

The Distribution Of Notes In A Chord

Although less significant, there are other factors that affect chord voicing, such as:

Pitch: is the whole chord high or low?
Range: does the chord cover several octaves or just one?
Density: are there close intervals between some chord notes or are all the notes spread apart?

Try This…

If you play a chord instrument, experiment with different ways of playing the same chord. Test out the effects of inversions, doubling and note distribution for yourself.

You can do this on a melody instrument, too.

On a melody instrument you can create an effect similar to a chord by playing an arpeggio, as we saw in B15. The faster the arpeggio is played, the more chord-like the result.

Arpeggios sound even more chord-like if you play in a reverberant room. If you’re amplified, you can add some reverb instead.

Any pitch order within the instrument’s range can be played as an arpeggio, including doubled notes.

Here are a couple of generalised observations you can test…

Low is strong:

A high chord is weaker than a low chord
Lowering the bass note by an octave makes a chord stronger

Separation equals clarity:

The clearest chords have their notes widely spaced in pitch
Close intervals can clash or muddy the sound, especially at lower octaves (Note: this could be a desired effect. It’s not a critique, just an observation)

NEXT LESSON: B18. Listen And Sing: Learn To Recognise The Notes Of A Major/Minor Chord

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

B16. Listen And Sing: Learn To Sing Major And Minor Triads

How To Sing A Major Triad

To get started, sing a major scale with the chord notes long and strong and the notes in between quick and quiet.

The scale notes between the notes of the triad are called passing notes. Gradually weaken the passing notes until you’re just singing the chord notes as a triad in root position.

Inversions Of Major Triads

Now practise singing major triads in each inversion. As you sing, try to hear and feel the root note when you sing it. To help, you can accent the root note slightly as you sing.

The examples below include passing notes in the first bar, as a listening cue. Sing the second bar while you listen to the first bar.

Root position

1st inversion

2nd inversion

Once you’re familiar with these, try them in different keys (starting on different notes).

A Quick Way To Find the Root Note of a Major or Minor Triad

In 1st and 2nd inversion there is a perfect 4th between two of the notes. The root note is the higher of these two notes.
If there is no perfect 4th the triad is in root position (the root note is the lowest note of the triad).

Minor Triads

Now let’s learn minor triads. Here are three methods you can choose from:

Sing a natural minor scale as above, emphasising the triad notes.

The melodic minor ascending might be easier to sing than the natural minor. Since we’re only after the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, it’s your choice: sing the minor you’re most familiar with.

For both methods, gradually weaken the passing notes until you’re just singing the triad.

You can skip the minor scale altogether and go straight for the triad. The only difference between a major and a minor triad is the 3rd, which is flattened compared to the major 3rd (1 semitone lower than the major 3rd).

Whichever method you use, once you can sing the triad in root position, practice singing each inversion.

The examples below include the passing notes in the first bar, as a listening cue. Sing the second bar while you listen to the first bar.

Root position

For 1st and 2nd inversion I have included passing notes for both natural and melodic minor. Choose your preference.

Ist inversion

2nd inversion

Once you’re familiar with these, try them in different keys.

NEXT LESSON: B17. Chord Voicing: Doubling And Note Distribution

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

B12. Bar Numbers And Pickup Bars

Is There Life Before Bar 1?

Bar Numbers

Each complete bar has a bar number. In a printed part, the bar number is usually written at the start of each stave except the first. Some parts number every bar or every few bars. Others, especially parts for shorter pieces, don’t include bar numbers at all.

Bar numbers are useful in longer pieces to identify sections that need practice.

How Bar Numbers Are Counted

A barline signifies the end of the current bar (and the start of the next bar).

The first complete bar is Bar 1. Typically Bar 1 starts on the first note or rest after the time signature. Bar 2 starts after the first barline.

Upbeats/Pickup Bars

I say typically because it’s not unusual for a part to start a note or two before the beginning of the first bar, as a lead-in to the first strong beat.

An example of this is when a song lyric starts with a preposition, such as “in the town”, “by the light” etc. where the emphasis is on the noun, “town” or “light”.

Lyrics or not, lead-ins are quite common. Usually a lead-in is just one or two quick notes, but longer lead-ins are also possible.

A lead-in is formally called an anacrusis. In popular music it is called an upbeat or a pickup bar.

Personally, I find the term “pickup bar” confusing because it isn’t a complete bar.

A pickup bar/upbeat/anacrusis consists of one or more notes before the start of bar 1.

Looping The Loop

Note that in the above example the last bar is 3 beats long instead of 4.

If the piece were to repeat, the timing would add up to whole bars and provide a smooth transition into the repeat.

If a piece starts with a partial bar, then it should finish with another partial bar equal to the remainder of that bar.

How To Recognise An Upbeat

An upbeat is less than a bar long. If the length of all the notes and rests before the first barline is less than a whole bar, it is an upbeat.

Bar 1 is always a complete bar. Anything less than a complete bar is an upbeat, not bar 1.

How To Work Out When To Come In

Add up the length of the notes in the incomplete bar
Subtract it from a whole bar to work out where the first note starts
Imagine rests being written from the start of the bar to the first written note.

For example, if there is 1 beat worth of notes before the first barline and the piece is in 4/4, there are 3 unwritten beats (4-1=3): the first note is on beat 4. Imagine rests where beats 1, 2 and 3 would go.

Counting In

When starting a piece, it’s always good to count a bar at the intended tempo before starting to play. In an ensemble this is essential, so everyone can come in on time, but even for solo playing, it helps to establish the tempo and time signature in your mind before you start.

For a partial bar, count a complete bar followed by the unwritten part of the bar. This ensures that you can feel the rhythmic structure correctly.

A time signature has a hierarchy which is implicit in every bar (See 6. Time Signatures 1 – Simple Time and B8. Time Signatures 2: Compound Time). Beat 1 is the strongest part of a bar. By counting a whole bar plus the unwritten part of the pickup bar, it’s easier to feel where within the bar the upbeat starts.

Try These…

Rewrite these melodies with rests before the first note to make up a whole bar.
Count in 1 bar plus the rests and tap, clap or play the rhythm.

Answers at the end of this post.

Upbeats Within A Piece

Upbeats don’t just occur at the beginning of a piece. Any musical phrase can start before the first full bar of that phrase. To do this, there has to be enough room at the end of the previous bar to fit the upbeat in.

In the above example, the first phrase finishes before the end of the bar to make room for the upbeat of the second phrase.

Practising A Phrase With An Upbeat

If you want to practise a phrase which starts with an upbeat without having to play all the way from the start, treat it like it’s the start of the piece: count rests over the end of the previous phrase so you know which part of the bar you come in on.

NEXT LESSON: B13. Degrees Of A Scale: Relative Note Names

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers To Try These…

B11. Playing Music With Swing

What Is Swing?

Swing refers to a particular rhythmic character which features prominently in many popular genres including blues, rock and jazz: that of “uneven halves”; pairs of quavers with the first quaver lengthened and the second one shortened.

In compound time we would write this as a crotchet plus a quaver; 2+1.

In some genres, compound time isn’t very popular as a form of music notation. For musicians with a firm upbringing in simple time, having to interpret a dotted crotchet as one beat goes against the grain.

We could write the same rhythm in x/4 as a triplet group, as discussed in the previous lesson, B10. Note Values 3: Triplets, but it makes the music look cluttered.

With Swing

Instead, we can use a shortcut.

We can write it in x/4 as pairs of quavers, with the term “swing”, “with swing” or “swung eighths” written at the start of the piece, next to the tempo or character marking.

The term ”swing” is equally used in text notation such as chord charts.

Note: Quavers are often beamed in groups of 4. These are played the same as if they’re beamed in pairs. Every odd quaver is lengthened and every even quaver shortened.

Swing notation only works when the beat is predominantly divided into the swing pattern. Occasional variations based on thirds of a beat can be written as triplet groups.

Alternatively, the score can be written in compound time.

Degrees Of Swing

I don’t mean a PHD in swing…

Swing, or lopsidedness, can be applied in varying degrees, from hardly any to a lot. There is no formal way to notate this: it depends on what’s authentic to a particular genre and on the player’s personal interpretation.

The default interpretation is as described, 2/3 of a beat for the first “quaver” of the pair and 1/3 of a beat for the second.

Extreme swing, typically 3/4 of a beat + 1/4 of a beat, is usually notated formally in simple time as a dotted quaver + a semiquaver.

Try These…

Re-write the following melodies with swing in compound time, using the appropriate time signature (hint: check how many beats are in a bar).
Tap, clap or play the rhythm of the melodies as you have written them.
Once you feel the rhythm, try reading the version with swing as you play/tap.

For example,

Answers at the end of this post.

Swing And Compound Time

Although it’s seldom written on the score, the concept of swing can also be applied to compound time.

The typical way of giving a group of 3 quavers swing is to lengthen the first and shorten the 2nd, just as in simple time. The remaining quaver is generally left as a normal quaver.

This can also be notated formally as follows:

As with swing in simple time, the degree of swing applied when not notated formally is subject to interpretation and can vary from subtle to blatant.

A subtle degree of this type of swing is often used in traditional folk tunes such as jigs.

For a refresher on compound time, please visit B8. Time Signatures 2: Compound Time.

NEXT LESSON: B12. Bar Numbers And Pickup Bars

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers To Try These…

B10. Note Values 3: Triplets

In B8. Time Signatures 2: Compound Time we saw that we can regularly divide a beat into thirds and sixths by using a time signature in compound time. But what if we just wanted the occasional beat in thirds while the rest of the piece contains half and quarter beats?

Triplets

In simple time, we can divide an individual beat into thirds by using triplets, in this case triplet quavers.

Triplets are indicated with a triplet sign; the number 3 written outside the beam.

In terms of duration,

1 crotchet = 2 normal quavers = 3 triplet quavers

It’s not just crotchets that can be divided into triplets: any standard note value (excluding dotted notes) can. If the note value is too long to use beams, a square bracket is used to indicate the grouping.

In general terms, 3 triplets of any note value are the same total length as two normal notes of that value. They equal one of the next longer note value.

Other Combinations

Any rhythm based on dividing a note into thirds rather than halves can be used within the triplet group, such as a triplet crotchet plus a triplet quaver or a series of triplet semiquavers.

Any rhythm in compound time can be written as triplet groups in simple time.

Note that because a triplet crotchet-quaver group has no beam, a square bracket is used to allow us to see where the beats are.

Sometimes square brackets are written over beamed triplets as well.

How To Play Triplets

When you first try to tap or play triplets in simple time, it’s often hard to keep them even.

The most common mistake is to play the first and second quavers too fast and the last one too slow, resulting in 2 semiquavers and a quaver. This has quite a different character.

Hopefully you’ll already be familiar with the character of triplets from compound time. If not, please revisit B9. How To Read Rhythms 2: Compound Time.

Try These…

Practise these rhythms made up of triplet groups. If you find them difficult, slow the tempo down.
Rewrite the rhythms in 12/8 (tip: each triplet is equal to 1 beat of compound time).

Answers at the end of this post.

Swapping Between Quavers And Triplets

Before being able to freely swap between quavers and triplets,

Practise each rhythm separately to a metronome at a medium-slow tempo, say around 80bpm.
Once you feel fully settled, try 4 beats of each, then 2.
Eventually you will be able to alternate at will.

The trick to learning rhythms is repetition. Play each rhythm till you can do it instinctively.

Any rhythm, even a simple one, needs to be so familiar that you can remember it by its character or feel, rather than having to figure it out from scratch every time you play it.

Avoiding Clutter

Triplet signs, especially those with brackets, make the music look unusually cluttered. This is fine for the odd triplet in the midst of normal note values but these common groupings could easily be the main rhythm of the piece. Imagine a whole piece written in triplets!

Pieces which predominantly use triplets are either written in compound time or by using a shortcut which we’ll look at in the next lesson.

NEXT LESSON: B11. Playing Music With Swing

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers To Try These…

B9. How To Read Rhythms 2: Compound Time

Simple Rhythms In Compound Time

Note: There are a number of exercises in this lesson, so it may take a little longer to complete. Take as long as you need… You can the first few rhythms now and come back to the harder ones later.

One-Beat Rhythmic Modules

Below are some simple 1-beat rhythms in compound time, written as individual bars of 3/8. Tap, clap or play along with these until you are familiar with them and can play them by yourself.

Although not indicated in the part, each rhythm is played 4 times.

To start learning each rhythm, count each quaver as a beat, as demonstrated in B8. Time Signatures 2: Compound Time.

Once you’re comfortable with these exercises at a quaver beat of 180 bpm, try counting every bar of 3/8 as a single, dotted crotchet beat at 60 bpm.
From there, you can continue to increase the tempo, counting dotted crotchet beats.

Practice Tip: Beats are easier to feel if you emphasise notes which are on the beat by playing an accent. Accenting the beats will help transition from playing with a metronome to without.

These rhythms can be combined to form complete bars of 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 etc. You can make up your own combinations. There are a few common examples at the end of this post.

Rhythms with semiquavers

Any quaver in the above rhythms can be substituted by a pair of semiquavers. In the following rhythms, look at pairs of semiquavers as halves of a beat, “1 and”.

Note: As you continue to increase the tempo, the semiquavers become too fast to be able to say the word “and”. Hopefully, by then you can feel them without having to count aloud.

The above are by no means every possible combination involving semiquavers. However, these are the most common; familiarity with these rhythms will make it easier to learn new ones.

Syncopation

Below are three common syncopated rhythms within a beat in compound time. Again, they are written as individual bars of 3/8.

Each rhythm is preceded by a similar rhythm which you have already learnt in the previous exercises. To create the syncopation, simply hold the dotted quaver (or quaver in the last example) through the first of the pair of semiquavers in the previous bar, as indicated by the counting lyrics.

Bars Of One-Beat Modules

Each of the above rhythms in 3/8 amount to a single beat in compound time. They (and other 3/8 rhythms not listed here) can be combined to form rhythms of 1, 2 or more bars.

Below are a few common 1-bar rhythms for you to practice. Rather than having to learn the whole bar as a new rhythm, look for the individual 1-beat rhythms you have already learnt then join them together.

As recommended earlier, if you have any difficulty counting dotted crotchet beats, start by counting each beat as a bar of 3 quaver beats.

Try These…

Answers at the end of this post.

NEXT LESSON: B10. Note Values 3: Triplets

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers To Try These…

These are played at a moderately slow tempo you can play along to. You may be able to play faster than these “answers”…

B8. Time Signatures 2: Compound Time

The standard note values make it easy to to indicate lengths of half or quarter of a beat. This suits some rhythms but not all. Many others are based on dividing a beat into thirds.

Dividing A Beat Into Thirds

Rhythms based on 1/3 beat subdivisions have a slightly more lelaxed feel compared to semiquavers; they sound a little less intense…

That’s not to say that these rhythms can’t be powerful and driving!

Compound Time

So how can we divide a beat into thirds of a beat when the standard note value symbols are based on halves?

We do this by using a symbol for 1 beat which naturally has 1/3 beat subdivisions, the dotted crotchet.

A dotted crotchet is the same length as 3 quavers.

In simple time we count beats and half beats as ”1-and 2-and” etc.
In compound time we count ”1-and-a 2-and-a” etc.

Time Signatures With A Dotted Crotchet Beat

To make a beat which naturally divides into thirds, we want the dotted crotchet, not the crotchet, to be the symbol for 1 beat. So how do we distill this into a fraction name?

A dotted crotchet = a crotchet + a quaver. As a fraction, that’s 1/4 + 1/8 = 3/8. The dotted crotchet is a 3/8 note.

Time signatures are written as the number of beats in a bar x the note value for 1 beat.

A bar of 2 dotted crotchet beats is 2 x 3/8 = 6/8
A bar of 3 dotted crotchet beats is 3 x 3/8 = 9/8
A bar of 4 dotted crotchet beats is 4 x 3/8 = 12/8

And so on…

Review: Time Signatures In Simple Time

Time signatures are fractions. In simple time, the upper note, the numerator, represents the number of beats in a bar and the lower note, the denominator, represents the name of the note value which represents 1 beat.

Split up, a time signature in simple time looks like this:

3/4 = 3 x 1/4 note (crotchet) beats per bar

Other note values can also be used to represent 1 beat. For example,

4/8 = 4 x 1/8 note (quaver) beats per bar
2/2 = 2 x 1/2 note (minim) beats per bar

Reserved Time Signatures

When we see a time signature like 6/8 we would normally assume that there are 6 beats in the bar, each of which is a quaver (1/8 note). However, 6/8 and higher multiples of 3/8 (not 3/8 itself) are reserved for music which requires a dotted crotchet beat.

These time signatures aren’t what they appear to be; they need to be broken down to be understood. Appropriately, they are collectively known as compound time.

It takes a little while to get used to reading music in compound time. We’re so used to seeing a crotchet as 1 beat that it’s hard not to think of a dotted crotchet as 1 1/2 beats…

The trick for reading compound time is to think of each dotted crotchet as a fast bar of 3. More on this later…

Hierarchy Of Compound Time

Bars have strong and weak beats. This is true for both simple and compound time. The only difference is whether a beat naturally divides into halves or thirds.

Below are the hierarchies of strong and weak points in 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8.

How To Read And Play Compound Time

In simple time, we can make a piece easier to learn by slowing it to half the tempo and counting every half-beat as a beat. For a reminder, please visit 3. Beats, Tempo and Timing.

In compound time, the same method would have us slow down to 1/3 of the tempo so each quaver can be counted as a beat. Practically, we don’t need to slow down quite so much, but the principle is the same.

Think of each dotted crotchet grouping as a miniature bar of 3 quaver beats, a bar of 3/8. Three beats per bar at a fast tempo is familiar to many as a waltz. If you know what a fast waltz feels like, you’re well on the way… if not, practice each dotted crotchet’s worth of notes as a separate bar of 3 until you feel the rhythm.

Once you can feel character of each beat of 3/8 as a simple 3-beat rhythm, you can start to speed up the tempo a bit until each bar of 3/8 feels like a beat in the overall time signature.