Wed. August 22, 2012

Please take a look at Lesson 7 first:

Meter is expressed by TIME SIGNATURES

Time Signatures are placed at the beginning of a piece of music, just after the clef. They contain 2 numbers that show the number of beats (or counts/pulses, etc.) in each measure and the kind of note that receives the pulse.

Time signatures are expressed as 2 numbers, one on top of each other. For now let’s only look at the number on top, which tells us how many beats or pulses are in a measure:

In Duple

In Triple

MEASURES (Lesson 6) we divide music up into equal parts called measures

BAR LINES indicate the beginning and end of a measure

DOUBLE BAR LINES, one thin and one thick, show the end of the piece.

Rhythms – (Lesson 5)

The duration of musical SOUND (not the pulse that is persistent, but the actual parts of music) is indicated by different types of notes:

WHOLE NOTE = 1/1 = 1

HALF NOTE = ½ (1/2 of 1)

QUARTER NOTE = ¼ (½ of ½)

They relate as follows:

1 whole note = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes

Back to Lesson 7

The bottom number tells us what kind of note gets the pulse,

So in 4/4 time, the top number tells us we will have 4 pulses or beats per bar or measure, and the bottom 4 is the bottom of a fraction above, so they are quarter notes, 4 quarter notes to 1 measure make up the pulse/beat, but the rhythm could be 4 quarter notes, 2 half notes, 1 whole note, a half note plus 2 quarters or 2 quarter notes plus a half.

7

Rhythm might be described as, to the world of sound, what light is to the world of sight. It shapes and gives new meaning. – Edith Sitwell, poet and critic 1965

Rhythm, Meter, & Tempo

Music is the art of sound in time.

When we speak of time in music we speak of rhythm.

            General way music unfolds in time.

            Main driving force that connects all music across time, cultures, and levels.

“a rhythm” = arrangement of durations – long and/or short notes – in music.

            Also in sports, poetry, prose, even visual art.

Beat and Accent

Beats = basic unit of measurement in music

            Ordinary clock time is measured in seconds

            Music is measured in beats

It is the regular recurrence of pulses that we feel when listening to music

            Especially prevalent in rock music or marching band music

It is a steady background upon which we execute more complex rhythms

            Example the Olympic synchronized divers counting off their dives

            We also dance to the beat, typically not to the rhythms; tap foot, etc.

One special component of the beat is that, whereas in clock time all seconds “tick” in the same way, in music some beats get more emphasis than others.

            The emphasized beats contain an accent.

Accent = Allow not only for the pulse (beat), but now organize that pulse into groups.

            Not just: tick, tick, tick, tick, tick

            But: ONE two, ONE two, ONE two; or BOOM chick, BOOM chick, BOOM chick

The words above in all capital letters contain an accent.

            The accented beats are strong beats

            The others are weak beats

            STRONG weak, STRONG weak, STRONG weak

Or in a triple time: STRONG weak weak, STRONG weak weak… (ONE two three, ONE two three)

8

Meter

A recurring pattern of strong and weak beats. STRONG/weak pattern repeated again and again.

Each occurrence of the repeated pattern, beginning with the STRONG beat and followed by one of more weak beats, is a measure, or bar of music.

In Western music there are only two basic kinds of meters:

            Duple meter

            Triple meter

Duple Meter

Beats grouped into twos (ONE two, STRONG weak) or fours (ONE two THREE four)

Most common in marches (Think of walking or marching: LEFT right LEFT right)

Examples: “Yankee Doodle”, The Stars and Stripes Forever, “America the Beautiful”, “God Bless America”

Songs and pieces that are in 4 can be reduced to 2. Can someone count ONE two, ONE two… while someone else simultaneously counts ONE two THREE four, ONE two THREE four, lining up every other “ONE.”

Triple Meter

Beats are grouped into three.

            ONE two three, ONE two three

            STRONG weak weak, STRONG weak weak

Examples: “The Star-Spangled Banner” or “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”

As with 4 and 2, music in 6 can be reduced to 3 or 2:

ONE two three FOUR five six, ONE two three FOUR five six…

Simultaneously with

ONE two three, ONE two three; or ONE two, ONE two, ONE two

Odd numbered meters like 5 and 7 are typically reduced to 2+3, 3+2, 3+2+2, 2+3+2, etc.

It is also possible for a composer to write in 1: ONE, ONE, ONE, ONE; but usually that music is really in two or three, and the composer just wants to subvert the feel of a march or waltz and create something that is intentionally mechanical sounding/devoid of accent.

9

Rhythm and Meter

The most exciting rhythms seem unexpected and complex, the most beautiful melodies simple and inevitable. – W. H. Auden, poet 1962

Rhythm, in general terms = entire time aspect of music

A rhythm = particular arrangements of consecutive long and short notes and silences in a musical passage

We perceive most Western music as being in either duple or triple meter

Rhythms may coincide with the meter, cut across it independently, or even conflict/contradict it for the purposes of variety, tension, excitement, etc.

Meter is background and Rhythm is foreground.

Meter is not always emphasized or explicitly beaten out.

Meter is strongly stressed in music designated to stress regular body movements: marches, dances, popular music, etc.

A composer might purposefully obfuscate the feeling of meter to create other emotions or aesthetics: mystery, spiritualism, confusion, madness, introspection, etc.