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Theory 1 Unit 1

This document discusses rhythm and meter in music. It defines rhythmic notation symbols like dots and ties that indicate note duration. It then explains meter, with terms like beat, division of the beat, and subdivision of the beat. Time signatures are introduced as indicating the meter, with the top number showing how many beats per measure and the bottom number what note receives the beat. Simple and compound meters are distinguished, with compound meter dividing each beat into three rather than two parts. Examples of reading different time signatures in simple and compound meter are provided.

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227 views

Theory 1 Unit 1

This document discusses rhythm and meter in music. It defines rhythmic notation symbols like dots and ties that indicate note duration. It then explains meter, with terms like beat, division of the beat, and subdivision of the beat. Time signatures are introduced as indicating the meter, with the top number showing how many beats per measure and the bottom number what note receives the beat. Simple and compound meters are distinguished, with compound meter dividing each beat into three rather than two parts. Examples of reading different time signatures in simple and compound meter are provided.

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UNIT 1.

3
RHYTHM AND METER
So far, we’ve just been talking about the vertical aspect of music, pitch. But what about the
horizontal? When in time do these pitches happen? It’s useless to say “play an F” without saying
when to play it.

Rhythmic duration - the length of a note, notated using symbols.


Dot - aka an “augmentation dot” - it adds half of the value of the note.

One quarter note = 2 eighth notes, so a dotted quarter = 3 eighth notes


A half note = 2 quarter notes, so a dotted half note = 3 quarter notes

Do not say that a dot “adds half a beat”, unless you want to sound like a real noob! It adds half of
the value of the note that it’s attached to.

Tie - a tie connecting two notes combines them into a single duration.

Just like you need a clef on a five-line staff to tell you what any of it means, these rhythms need
some context to make sense.

That context is METER!


METER
First, a few terms to make sure we’re all on the same page:

BEAT - the big pulses in a piece


DIVISION OF THE BEAT - the beat divided once
SUBDIVISION OF THE BEAT - the beat divided twice

Every meter has regular beats which are then divided and subdivided.
Rhythms are placed on these beats like a grid.

A simple meter means that each beat can be divided into two equal parts.
A compound meter means that each beat can be divided into three equal parts.
A meter is defined using a time signature.
A time signature is two stacked numbers which tell you pertinent information.

The top number tells you how much of something, and the bottom number tells you what kind of
rhythmic duration.

Some bottom numbers might be:


4 = quarter note
2 = half note
8 = eighth note
16 = sixteenth note
How to read a simple meter time signature (4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 4/8, 3/8, etc)
The top number is how many “big beats” per measure;
The bottom number is what gets the beat. If you were to conduct this, where your hand would go

Some examples:
4/4 means each measure is four quarter notes long and the quarter note gets the beat
3/8 means each measure is three 8th notes long and the 8th note gets the beat
4/2 means each measure is four half-notes long and the half-note gets the beat
6/16 means each measure is six 16th notes long and the 16th note gets the beat

etc.

How to read a compound meter time signature (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 3/8, 6/16,
9/16, etc)
The top number is how many divisions of the beat per measure
The bottom number is the division of the beat

To find the number of “big beats” per measure (what your conducting hand would do), you
would need to divide the top number by three.
Why? In compound time, each beat can be divided into THREE parts, not two. This means that
each beat will be a DOTTED note. If we wrote it the same we write simple, we’d have decimals or
fractions in the time signature

Some examples:
6/8 means that each measure is six 8th notes long. The dotted quarter gets the beat and there
are two big beats per measure.

9/8 means that each measure is nine 8th notes long. The dotted quarter gets the beat and there
are three big beats per measure.

12/16 means that each measure is twelve 16th notes long. The dotted 8th note gets the beat and
there are four big beats per measure.

6/4 means that each measure is six quarter notes long. The dotted half note gets the beat and
there are two big beats per measure.
How can we tell if something is in simple or compound?
Most of the time, the time signature will tell you.

However, some time signatures can be either simple or compound. It depends on how the
composer chooses to group the notes!

Simple, six beats per measure:

Compound, two beats per measure:

Compound, in one:

Simple, in three:
DUPLE, TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE

These adjectives are applied to meters to describe how many beats per measure.

2/4, 6/8 - duple


3/4 , 9/8 - triple
4/4, 12/8 - quadruple

Combine “Duple, etc” with “simple” or “compound” to describe a meter.


2/2 - simple duple
6/8 - compound duple

3/4 - simple triple


9/8 - compound triple

4/4 - simple quadruple


12/8 - compound quadruple

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