Dividing Musical Time
- There is also a secondary pulse, moving twice as fast, this represents the beat division
- Musical meters are defined by:
(1) the way beats are divided
(2) the way beats are grouped into larger recurring units
- Beats typically divide into two or three parts
- There are two principal meter types: simple and compound
- Simple meters have beats that divide into twos :: feels like walking or marching
- Compound meters have beats that divide into threes :: feels lifting, like a waltz
- When beats group into units of two, the meter type is duple
- When beats group into units of three, the meter type is triple
- When beats group into unitts of four, the meter time is quadruple
- Beat groupings are indicated by bar lines, which seperate the notes into measures (or bars)
- Measures are often numbered at the top, to help you find your place in the score
interpretive ideas
- There are different motions for duple, triple, and quadruple but their patterns stay the same whether you are in
simple or compound time
- The downbeat of each pattern is the motion of the hand down on beat 1
- The upbeat of each pattern is the upward lift of the hand for the final beat
- Beat, Beat Division, and Meter
- There is also a secondary pulse, moving twice as fast, this represents the beat division
- Musical meters are defined by:
(1) the way beats are divided
(2) the way beats are grouped into larger recurring units
- Beats typically divide into two or three parts
- There are two principal meter types: simple and compound
- Simple meters have beats that divide into twos :: feels like walking or marching
- Compound meters have beats that divide into threes :: feels lifting, like a waltz
- When beats group into units of two, the meter type is duple
- When beats group into units of three, the meter type is triple
- When beats group into unitts of four, the meter time is quadruple
- Beat groupings are indicated by bar lines, which seperate the notes into measures (or bars)
- Measures are often numbered at the top, to help you find your place in the score
- Conducting Patterns
interpretive ideas
- There are different motions for duple, triple, and quadruple but their patterns stay the same whether you are in
simple or compound time
- The downbeat of each pattern is the motion of the hand down on beat 1
- The upbeat of each pattern is the upward lift of the hand for the final beat
- Tempo
- Tempo helps convey the character or mood of a piece
- Rhythm and Meter
- Rhythm refers to the durations of pitch and silence (rests)
- Meter provieds a framework of strong and weak beats against which the rhythms are heard
{Summary: Music written in a meter has (1) a recurring pattern of beats, (2) perceivable divisions of beats [simple or compound], (3) perceivable groupings of beats [duple, triple, or quadruple]. Rhythm consists of duration of pitch and silence, usually heard in the context of the underlying meter}
Rhythmic Notation for Simple Meters
- Rhythmic Values
- The horizontal line connecting two or more notes is a beam
- A whole note divides into two half notes
- A half note divides into two quater notes
- A quater note divides into two sixteenth notes
- A sixteenth note divides into two eighteenth notes
- A half note divides into two quater notes
- A quater note divides into two sixteenth notes
- A sixteenth note divides into two eighteenth notes
- Meter Signatures
- The upper number represents how many
beats each full measure gets
- The lower number indicates the beat unit
Counting Rhythms in Simple Meters
- When two or more notes are stemed together, the stem direction corresponds with the note farthest from the
middle line
- Rhythms should be beamed to reflect the beat unit
- Using a counting system can help you remember and identify rhytmic patterns; choosing one and using it
constantly
- Each rest last as long as the note they share a name with
- A whole res may be written to indicate silence that lasts a whole measure redgardless of how many beats are in
that measure
- Some scores include multiple-bar rests, the number above the rest tells how many bars to rest
- Beat Subdivisions
- Stems, Flags, and Beaming
- When two or more notes are stemed together, the stem direction corresponds with the note farthest from the
middle line
- Rhythms should be beamed to reflect the beat unit
- Using a counting system can help you remember and identify rhytmic patterns; choosing one and using it
constantly
- Counting Rests and Dots
- Each rest last as long as the note they share a name with
- A whole res may be written to indicate silence that lasts a whole measure redgardless of how many beats are in
that measure
- Some scores include multiple-bar rests, the number above the rest tells how many bars to rest
- A dot adds to anote half its own value
(example: a dotted-quater note euals a quater note + an eighth note)
- Dotted notes are generally paired with another note that completes the full beat or full measure
- Slurs affect performanc articulation but not duration: the notes encompassed by a slur should be played
smoothly (legato) rather than detached
- A tie is when there is a small arc that connects two pitches that are the same
- Tie adds the duration of the two note values together
- Ties and dots should be notated in a way that clarifies the meter rather than obscuring it
- In duple meters, beats alternate strong-weak
- In tripe meters, the accents are strong-weaker-weaskest
- In quadruple meters, strongest, weak, strong, weak
- Strong beats are in a meter are heard as metric accents
- When an expected metric accent is desplaced or moved to another beat or part of a beat the result is
syncopation
- Syncopations may occur at the level of the beat( 2 or 4), the division (&), or the subdivison ("e" or "a")
- Syncopation can be found in all styles of music, but the most common in popular music, jaz, and ragtime
- The most typicl syncopation patter is short - long - short
- They are usually notated with ties
(example: a dotted-quater note euals a quater note + an eighth note)
- Dotted notes are generally paired with another note that completes the full beat or full measure
- Slurs and Ties
- Slurs affect performanc articulation but not duration: the notes encompassed by a slur should be played
smoothly (legato) rather than detached
- A tie is when there is a small arc that connects two pitches that are the same
- Tie adds the duration of the two note values together
- Ties and dots should be notated in a way that clarifies the meter rather than obscuring it
- Metric Accents and Syncopation
- In duple meters, beats alternate strong-weak
- In tripe meters, the accents are strong-weaker-weaskest
- In quadruple meters, strongest, weak, strong, weak
- Strong beats are in a meter are heard as metric accents
- When an expected metric accent is desplaced or moved to another beat or part of a beat the result is
syncopation
- Syncopations may occur at the level of the beat( 2 or 4), the division (&), or the subdivison ("e" or "a")
- Syncopation can be found in all styles of music, but the most common in popular music, jaz, and ragtime
- The most typicl syncopation patter is short - long - short
- They are usually notated with ties
- Anacrusis Notation