Tag: eighth note

20. How To Read Rhythms 1

Simple Rhythms In Simple Time

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.

If you can’t wait to get to the exercises, click here. Otherwise, first some background.

Simple Time

Simple time refers to time signatures where the upper number = the number of beats in a bar and the lower number represents the note value for 1 beat. For example:

  • 3/2 = 3 beats per bar, where each beat is a 1/2 note (minim)
  • 5/4 = 5 beats per bar, where each beat is a 1/4 note (crotchet)
  • 4/8 = 4 beats per bar, where each beat is a 1/8 note (quaver)
  • 3/16 = 3 beats per bar, where each beat is a 1/16 note (semiquaver)

Why can so many note values represent 1 beat?

This is a subject for a future post but in essence, it allows the composer to influence the look of the written page. Just as we have different ways of explaining something, a composer can present musical information in a number of ways.

X/4

By far the most frequently used time signatures in simple time are X/4, where 1 beat is represented by a crotchet (quarter note), such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 etc.

In simple time it’s easy to divide a beat into halves and quarters using standard note values. If a crotchet = 1 beat, then a quaver = 1/2 beat and a semiquaver = 1/4 beat.

For a refresher on these time signatures, visit 6. Time Signatures 1 – Simple Time.

Beaming

When there are several notes with tails in succession (quavers, semiquavers etc.) their tails are beamed (joined) together.

Notes are beamed in groups of one beat (quavers can also be beamed in groups of 2 beats), with the first note in the group being on the beat. This makes it easy to see where the beats are in a bunch of short notes.

(Sib Graphic of 2 bars of 4/4 mixed rhythms)

Resolution

Music is a human experience. Our ability to count steadily roughly matches the range of human heart rates, about 40 to 200 bpm.

At a tempo slower than about 40 bpm we can’t feel the continuity between beats and it becomes hard to keep the beats at an even tempo. 

For really slow tempi we can effectively double the resolution by doubling the counting speed; by counting the “and”s, the second half of each beat. The more frequent counts allow us to keep track of the timing. 

On the other hand, at a tempo faster than about 200 bpm it’s hard to feel each beat. We just can’t keep up… We’re tempted to just count the strong beats so we can count more slowly.

In both cases, when the tempo is outside a comfortable counting speed, we can adjust the resolution by changing what we count as 1 beat.

The Zoom Factor 

When practising a tricky piece of music, the first step is to slow the tempo right down so we have a chance to learn the notes.

However, some pieces don’t just have a fast tempo; the beats are divided into really short notes, 1/4 of a beat or even shorter. Even at a slow tempo, the actual notes can still be really fast…

The solution is to count the “and”s; to count a half beat as if it’s a beat. By counting twice as often, we can slow the tempo down to half without it feeling too slow to count. For more on this, please visit 3. Beats, Tempo and Timing.

I liken this to zooming in.

When zoomed in, fast rhythms are much easier to learn. Instead of having to divide a beat into quarters, you only need to divide into halves.

For example:

How To Learn A Fast Or Tricky Rhythm

  • Zoom in and count every half-beat as a beat at a slow tempo. 
  • Gradually speed it up until it’s fast enough to zoom out.
  • Without changing the playing speed, count half as often, so you’re counting the actual beats.
  • Gradually build up to the final tempo of the piece.

The Percussion Clef

The exercises that follow use a percussive sound (a snare drum). Drums and percussion have their own clef, where the lines and spaces represent different percussion instruments rather than note pitches. (Cymbals and some other percussion instruments also use differently shaped noteheads).

Common 1-Beat Rhythms In X/4

In X/4, a beat can be made up of a combination of quavers and semiquavers. In principle, we can go even further, into demisemiquavers (1/8 of a beat) or more, but that’s quite advanced.

There aren’t many ways to divide a beat into halves and quarters. These rhythms make a small enough list to learn as presets. In the example below I have written each beat as a bar of 1/4.

Even at 60 bpm, some of these rhythms sound quite tricky at first glance. They are much easier to learn if we zoom in.

Clap, Tap, Sing or Play

  • You can practise rhythms anywhere, by tapping on a tabletop, clapping or singing a simple syllable like “da”, “do”, “la” etc.
  • You can also play your instrument. Note that on keyboards and some melodic instruments it’s easier to play fast by alternating between 2 or 3 note pitches than to repeat a single note rapidly. Adapt the exercises accordingly…

Try These…

The following exercises have a metronome click to keep track of the beats. In the first group the rhythms are zoomed in so we count each quaver as a beat and each semiquaver as half a beat.

Each bar is played 4 times. The text “play 4 times” above the repeat signs has been left out to save space.

Note: For more on repeats and other navigation signs, please visit my beginner’s tip, How To Navigate Music 1: Animated Tour.

  • Make sure that you count at a steady tempo when practising. Tap or play each rhythm a number of times before trying at a faster tempo.
  • Emphasise the first note of every beat a little, especially if practising without a metronome. This helps you to feel the beats.

The first three rhythms are pretty straightforward at a moderately slow tempo when zoomed in…

NOTE: If you’re having trouble getting started…

  • Zoom in twice and count each semiquaver as a beat. A quaver is 2 beats long, a dotted quaver = 3 beats and a crotchet = 4 beats: no dividing required.
  • Gradually increase the tempo, then zoom out to quaver beats and continue with the following steps.

Practise each of these rhythms until you can feel them effortlessly. Start at a slow tempo and gradually work up to at least 120 bpm.

Once they’re at 120 bpm, count half as often without changing how fast you play the notes. Now we’re counting crotchet beats at 60 bpm!

This should sound the same as the previous step…

From here, we can gradually increase the tempo depending on the piece. I recommend practising until at least 100 bpm. Try to absorb the character of each rhythm as you practise.

As you become more familiar with each rhythm, leave out the “and”s.

Now let’s look at the other rhythms, one at a time. Follow the same steps as for the first three rhythms.

Bar 4

Bar 4 is probably easier after playing bar 2 first. Again, we’ll start by counting quavers as beats, at a moderate tempo. Feel the quavers, then add in the 2nd semiquaver.

  • Gradually increase the tempo until it’s at 120 bpm.
  • Now count crotchets at 60 bpm (it should sound the same as before).
  • Gradually increase the tempo (examples below at 80 bpm and 100 bpm).

Bar 5

Bar 5 is probably easier after playing bar 3 first. Feel all the semiquavers, then leave out the last one.

Note: It’s easy to get bars 4 and 5 mixed up. The difference is more obvious if you emphasise the first note of the bar.

  • Gradually increase the tempo until it’s at 120 bpm.
  • Now count crotchets at 60 bpm (it should sound the same as before).
  • Gradually increase the tempo (examples below at 80 bpm and 100 bpm).

Bar 6

Bar 6 is one of the harder rhythms because there is no note on the 2nd beat. Listen for the 2nd beat before playing the last note.

  • Gradually increase the tempo until it’s at 120 bpm.
  • Now count crotchets at 60 bpm (it should sound the same as before).
  • Gradually increase the tempo (examples below at 80 bpm and 100 bpm).

Bar 7

To play bar 7, hold the first note until after you’ve heard the 2nd beat. Listen for the 2nd beat before playing the last note.

  • Gradually increase the tempo until it’s at 120 bpm.
  • Now count crotchets at 60 bpm (it should sound the same as before).
  • Gradually increase the tempo (examples below at 80 bpm and 100 bpm).

Bar 8

To play bar 8, play the first 2 notes quickly then hold the 2nd note all the way to the end of the bar.

  • Gradually increase the tempo until it’s at 120 bpm.
  • Now count crotchets at 60 bpm (it should sound the same as before).
  • Gradually increase the tempo (examples below at 80 bpm and 100 bpm).

Rhythmic Presets

Practise tapping or playing each one-beat rhythm until you can recognise it at a glance. When you see a bar with a seemingly complex rhythm you can break it down beat by beat into familiar presets.

Can you recognise the one-beat rhythms in the following short melody? Tap or clap along if you can…

Notating Rhythms

Once you can recognise the character of each rhythm, you will become familiar with how it looks on a stave.

Bear in mind that tails and beams depend on the direction of the note stems. In a pitched part, some groups may appear upside down as in the above melody.

Try These…

The following audio files are each made up of a 1-beat rhythm played 8 times.

  • Tap or count the beats so you can feel the tempo as you listen to each audio file.
  • Once you feel the tempo, listen to the rhythm and clap, tap, sing or play the rhythm.
  • Identify which rhythm you’re hearing/playing.
  • Notate each rhythm as a series of correctly beamed note values (since the pitch doesn’t matter, you can use blank paper instead of manuscript if you like).

Answers at the end of this post.

Reading Rhythms

Long notes are relatively easy to read – we can just count a number of beats while holding the note. Short notes are a bit harder because we have to divide a beat into smaller values such as 1/2 or 1/4 of a beat.

This is where rhythmic presets come in. Rather than having to learn a longer rhythm from scratch, look for one-beat presets within the music so you can recall the rhythms you’ve already learnt.

Rhythm Practice 

A great way to practise rhythms is to combine it with your scales practice.

  • Choose a one-beat rhythm and repeat it on each scale note.
  • Over time, build up the tempo.
  • Each day, play a different scale with a different rhythm.

Another good exercise is to write out a bar of 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 made up of a combination of 1-beat rhythms, then learn to tap or play the whole bar as a larger rhythm. For example:

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 wth new posts, please subscribe.

NEXT LESSON: 21. Note Values 2: Ties

PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

Answers To Try These…

3. Beats, Tempo and Timing

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.

Beats and note length

Music is made up of notes and rests of varying length. The musical unit of note length is the beat.

Beats

The duration of a note or rest isn’t written in absolute time: we don’t say a note is 3 seconds or half a second long. Instead, we say it is 3 beats long or half a beat long. We use symbols to indicate the length of a note as a number of beats or a fraction of a beat. For more on the symbols for note length, please see 5. How Long Is A Note? Note Values 1

Tempo

How long a beat lasts depends on the tempo. Think of a clock that doesn’t just tick every second, but that has a dial that lets you set the tick to any speed you like (this actually exists, both as a mechanical ticker and as an app: it’s called a metronome). The speed of the ticking is the tempo. Tempo is measured in beats per minute or bpm.

Each tick represents the start of one beat, so a note that is one beat long and starts on a tick will last until the next tick.

Timing

Notes can start on a beat or between beats. The relationship between the actual notes of a part and the tempo is called timing. Being able to accurately play the note lengths in relation to the tempo is called playing in time.

Timing is also the basis of how musicians can play together in a co-ordinated way. Large ensembles often use a conductor for this purpose. The conductor acts as a human metronome, using gestures to indicate the beats and thus control the tempo.

The tempo of a song is often constant, especially in many modern genres, but it is also possible for the tempo to change within a piece.

Counting the beat

The standard metronome has a range of 40-208 bpm, which roughly parallels the range of human heart rates. This represents our range of experience of what feels like a beat. For example, try counting “1, 2, 3, 4” or “1, 2, 3” along to metronome ticks of various tempi.

Slower than about 40 bpm we can’t “join the dots”; we don’t feel the link from one beat to the next clearly enough to be able to count steadily and we’re tempted to insert the word “and” between counts: of course, this effectively doubles our counting speed, even though we’re using a different word.

Faster than about 200 bpm it becomes hard to feel each count as a proper beat: more like a half-beat: and we want to count every 2nd beat instead.

Some music isn’t played in any set tempo, but a kind of flexi-time. This is formally called rubato but the English word freely can be used instead if you prefer. Rubato is prominent in operatic arias and other “story-telling” genres such as ballads.

Musicianship: the bridge between theory and practice

Often music is thought of as two subjects, theory and practical: the reading and understanding of musical language and learning to play an instrument. There is an important third element called musicianship. Think of musicianship as practical theory, general musical skills independent of the instrument you play.

One aspect of musicianship is timing. Aspiring musicians need to master some basic skills such as being able to play to an external beat, be it from a metronome or other players. Some people have a natural ability to feel the beat, while others need some exercises to develop this ability.

Basic timing practice

The following examples use two note symbols. The first is called a crotchet or quarter note: here it represents a length of 1 beat. The second is called a quaver or eighth note and represents half a beat. More on note length in a later post.

I have already mentioned the first step, the ability to count or play a note steadily to a beat at various tempi. Try counting “1, 2” first, then playing. You can play any note: often it’s easier to play two different notes, depending on your instrument.

If you had trouble counting to the beat as above, practice at a medium tempo such as 90bpm first as it’s neither too slow to feel nor too fast to play.

TIP: Listen to the metronome first before starting to count or play. Let yourself feel the tempo for as long as you like: it’ll be much easier to play in time.

A variation of the above exercise is to tap your foot at a set tempo and play together with your taps.

The next step is to be able to divide a beat into halves. It may help to use the word “and”, at least mentally, to mark the half beats. This makes it feel like you’re counting twice as often, which is certainly easier for slower tempi. The trick is to make sure the halves occur exactly halfway between the beats: at first, they may be uneven. Try playing along to the example below.

Gradually increase the tempo until you can play quite fast.

Once you can play steadily every half beat at a faster tempo such as 120bpm as above, try leaving out the “and”s in your count.

It may take a little while to be able to keep up the steady rhythm of even halves. The more you practice, the more stamina you develop and the longer you can keep the halves even. After a while you’ll wonder how it could ever have been difficult…

Other simple rhythms are also worth learning, such as alternating a whole beat and two half beats or playing only the off-beat halves (the “ands”). This latter is the basis of syncopation (more on this in another post). It’s also worth learning to divide a beat into uneven pairs, long then short, called swing or swung eighths. Effectively, the long note is 2/3 of a beat and the short note, 1/3 of a beat. Another good exercise is to divide the beat into thirds, 3 equal parts.

The above exercises form the basis of many common rhythms.

More timing practice

Playing in time is one of the critical skills required when playing in an ensemble, whether a duo, band, choir or orchestra. Complete musicianship teaching methods are available, covering timing, rhythm, pitching intervals and more.

In my upcoming music theory book, Music Theory De-mystified, I have included two chapters on musicianship. The timing exercises above are taken from one of these chapters. The other chapter is about learning to recognise intervals (the pitch relationship between two notes) by being able to sing or play them.

This post is one of a growing series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here.

Please feel welcome to like, comment or to share this post. If you have any questions, pleased leave them as a comment and I will respond as soon as I can. If you enjoy my posts and would like to be kept up to date, please subscribe.

Substantial parts of this post, including the movies above, are taken from Music Theory De-mystified, my upcoming music theory e-book, due to be released late 2023.

NEXT LESSON: 4. Bars, How To Count In Bars And Beats

PART 1 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents