It's not just another piano lesson… It's a physical, intellectual, and spiritual journey!
Learning Outcomes Welcome to the grossly under-appreciated subject of musical time and rhythm, which encompasses a wide variety of subjects: pulse, tempo, meter, up-beats, down-beats, back-beats, sub-beats, super-beats, duration, rests, melodic rhythm, melodic contour, dynamics, acceleration and deceleration, cycles, repetitions, anticipation, delay, melodic motives, harmonic rhythm, phrasing, and form. In this section, we will cover just the
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6/8 Time is more than six equivalent pulse strung together. 6/8 time defines a recurring pattern of two “3-nesses” in a row, where the first 3-ness which starts on “the 1” gets a bit more emphasis than the second three-ness, which starts on “the 4”. If you haven’t done so already, watch the following video that
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4/4 Time is more than four equivalent pulses strung together. 4/4 time is built upon two “2-nesses” in a row, where the first “2-ness”, which starts on “the 1” gets a bit more emphasis than the second “2-ness”, which starts on “the 3”. If you haven’t done so already, watch the following video that explains how to
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2/4 Time is more than two equivalent pulses strung together. 2/4 time defines a recurring pattern where the first pulse get a bit more emphasis than the second pulse. If you haven’t done so already, watch the following video that explains how to do these two-fisted, clapping time in your lap studies for maximum benefit… Pattern: 2
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The Time Signature, written immediately after the key signature, is a pattern of numbers that looks like a fraction that tells you two things: The top number tells you how many beats (pulses) are in a measure. The bottom number tell you which type of note gets the beat (pulse). Here are a few examples: This
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The concept and experience of a steady, repeating Pulse… akin to your heartbeat, might be considered the most basic dimension of musical time. The next dimension, Meter, is the concept and experience of organizing pulses in a hierarchical manner so that each pulse is different from the other. First, listen to a steady drumbeat of
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Let’s change the time signature from 4/4 to 3/4… and notice the nice lilt that three-ness gives to the piece. Also notice the adjustments that need to be made in the melody and accompaniment in order to accommodate the missing beat.
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