Chapter 2 - Rhythm, Meter, and Metric Organization

Notating Rhythm

• Music notation - It shows how long one note lasts in relation to others.

• Two half notes equal a whole note and two quarter notes equal the duration of a half note.

• Note tree - Relationship of duration symbols

  

• Rest tree - The relationship of the equivalent rests

  

The Dot and the Tie

• Dot and tie - Two symbols that extend the length or duration of a note.
• Dot - Used to extend the value of a single note by one-half of its original value.
  • A dotted quarter note divides into three eighth notes.
• Double dot - Lengthens the dotted note value by half the length of the first dot.
• Tie - It combines the durational values of two or more notes of the same pitch using a curved line.

Metric Organization

• Duration - The length of time sound or silence occurs.
• Beat - A regular, recurring pulsation that divides music into units of time.
• Meter - The organization of musical time into recurring patterns of strong and weak beats.
  • Duple (Strong weak) - Two beats per measure
  • Triple (Strong weak weak) - Three beats per measure
  • Quadruple (Strong weak less strong weak) - Four beats per measure
• Subdivision - The division of the beat into two or three equal parts.
• Rhythm - Series of durations, often varying, of sound and silence.
• Tempo - The speed of the beat.
• Meter signature - Establishes the grouping of the beats and the nature of the subdivision of the beat.
  • Simple meter - Refers to the beat being divided equally into two parts.
  • Compound meter - Refers to the beat being divided equally into three parts.

Simple Meter

• The top number represents the number of beats per measure and the bottom number represents the fractional equivalent of the note that is the beat.

  

• Common time - Represented by a lowercase c, it is used to represent 4/4.

• Alla breve (Cut time) - Designated by a c with a line going through, is a substitute of 2/2.

Compound Meter

• In compound meter, the time signature represents the subdivision, not the beat.

  

Asymmetrical Meters

• Asymmetrical meters - Meters that have beat units of unequal length.
  • The most common ones have 5 or 7 as the top number.

Triplets and Duplets

• Irregular division - When a note is divided into an odd number of parts.
• Triplet - To divide a regular duration into three,
• Simple division of a dotted note (Duplet or Tuplet) - When two notes divide the beat.

Downbeats and Upbeats

• Downbeat - The first beat of the measure.
• Anacrusis - Songs that begin with one or more notes that precede the first full measure.
• Syncopation - The rhythmic displacement of the expected strong beat created by using dots, rests, ties, accent marks, rhythm, and dynamics.
• Hemiola - A special type of syncopation where the bead is temporarily regrouped into twos.
  • Cross-rhythm - Metric device where the rhythmic relation of three notes occurs in the time of two.

Rhythmic Notation Guidelines

• For pitches on the middle line and above on the staff, the stems go downward.
• For pitches below the middle line, the stems extend upward.
• When drawing notes with single flags, the flag always goes on the right side of the note.
• Rhythmic patterns should be grouped with the beam to indicate beat units.

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