Rhythms for newcomers
This page is for absolute newcomers! If things like 'compound duple' make sense to you, go straight on to 'rhythms in early music'. If not ...
down beat vs upbeat. strong versus weak. hierarchy of beats. what conductors do. How to play ON the beat. metronomes!
4 crotchets, 4 minims
3 crotchets, minim+crotchet, 3 minims
thinking in dotted crotchets, dotted minims. 6/8, 6/4
NOTE that 6-beat bars can be played as 1-2-3, 4-5-6 ("pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?") OR as 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 ("mirror, mirror, on the wall").
syncopation at various levels - quaver crotchet quaver; crotchet minim crotchet. Calypso
Rests! semibreve and minim; multirests
down beat vs upbeat. strong versus weak. hierarchy of beats. what conductors do. How to play ON the beat. metronomes!
4 crotchets, 4 minims
3 crotchets, minim+crotchet, 3 minims
thinking in dotted crotchets, dotted minims. 6/8, 6/4
NOTE that 6-beat bars can be played as 1-2-3, 4-5-6 ("pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?") OR as 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 ("mirror, mirror, on the wall").
syncopation at various levels - quaver crotchet quaver; crotchet minim crotchet. Calypso
Rests! semibreve and minim; multirests
