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Understanding The Basics of Counting Rhythms

The document discusses the basics of counting rhythms in music. It explains note values like whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes in terms of their duration relative to a measure. It emphasizes the importance of counting rhythms steadily and practicing with a metronome to internalize timing and play in sync with other musicians.

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gr8gee
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280 views4 pages

Understanding The Basics of Counting Rhythms

The document discusses the basics of counting rhythms in music. It explains note values like whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes in terms of their duration relative to a measure. It emphasizes the importance of counting rhythms steadily and practicing with a metronome to internalize timing and play in sync with other musicians.

Uploaded by

gr8gee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Understanding the Basics of Counting Rhythms

The first step in understanding rhythms is to memorize the various


notes and their note values:
whole note
four beats
long
half note
two beats
long
quarter note
one beat
long
eighth note
half a beat
long
sixteenth
note
quarter of a
beat.
It's confusing to think of something being an eighth of a beat, and you
may wonder why a note that is one beat long is called a uarter note!
"hy wouldn't it be called a whole note, since it's a whole beat#
It's because we name our notes based on the length of time they are
played within a measure, not based on how many beats they are!
Think of a measure as a whole pie, in that it can be cut into uarters
$% pieces&, eighths $' pieces&, and so on!
( whole note is called a whole note because it is played and held for
a whole measure!
( uarter note is called a uarter note because a full uarter note
takes up e)actly one uarter of a measure!
*ow that we understand why the notes are named the way they are,
let's look at the chart again:
whole note
Fills a whole
measure
half note
played for half a
measure
quarter
note
one quarter of a
measure
eighth note
eighth of a measure
sixteenth
note
sixteenth of a
measure
The ne)t step to take is to actually count through the rhythms!
Counting Through The Rhythms
(s evenly as you can, count to % like this: + , - , . , %, + , - , . , %!
/epeat the counting over and over again! Try to make sure each
number is evenly spaced! 0on't count like this: +!!! -!!! . %!!! or any
other 1ilted time! It doesn't matter how fast you count, but keep the
numbers evenly spaced!
2ou are counting % beats in a measure, so each number is the value
of a uarter note3 4ongratulations3
*ow, while counting, clap your hands only when you say 5+!5 6old
your hands together to simulate holding the note until you have said
%, then clap again on +! 2ou are now 5playing5 a whole note3
WITH METRONOME:
7et your metronome to about 89!
*ow clap with each beep of the metronome! This is uarter notes!
It is actually hard to keep :;(4T<2 with the metronome, for more
than a few beeps! Try closing your eyes to fully concentrate!
It may take several sessions, over several days, to achieve perfect
clapping or counting with the metronome! =ut it is essential,,,you
want to be able to play along with everyone in your orchestra,,,so you
need to be able to play in rhythm!
*e)t, set your metronome to about +-9! 4lap with each beep! 2ou
are 5playing5 uarter notes! $If your metronome can emphasize a
beat, use that feature&!
7etting it back to about 89, continue to count +-.%, but clap an e)tra
time between each count! It might help to say 5+ and - and . and %
and5 so you stay even! >nce you get this down you are clapping
eighths3 2ou've divided the pie into eight even pieces3
7tudy the diagram below: *otice that the eighth notes on the fourth
line $called a staff in music& look a little different than this ! Their
flags are 1oined together3 This simply makes for easier reading! The
same is true for any other note with a flag!

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