Lesson 2 Rhythm

2.1 The Time Signature and the Measure Most music has a sense of rhythm that can be heard well enough to tap along with your foot. You usually tap your foot once for every "beat" of music. You will also find that these beats fall into regular groupings like 3 or 4. Music notation usually shows the type of rhythm to be used in a piece of music at the beginning as two numbers, one on top of another like a fraction. The top number indicates the number of beats you feel in each grouping (or measure, or bar). The most common measure size is 4 beats which works well for dancing. The bottom number tells what kind of musical note value gets one beat. The most common note value used in a time signature is a quarter note (1/4 note). This note gets its name because it is 1/4 the length of a whole note (discussed below). The bottom number of the signature parallels the bottom number of the note value's name (e.g. 1/4--quarter). This means that in every measure of music, 4 quarter notes worth of music goes by. Each measure of music is separated by a "bar line" which makes each of the rhythmic groupings easy to see. This example shows two measures of quarter notes in 4/4 time.

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Changing the Top Number Of the two numbers that make up the time signature, the top one is the most often changed. Measures can have any number of beats in them but 2, 3, and 4 are certainly the most common. Odd numbers like 5 or 7 are seldom seen because they create an uneven rhythmic feeling. However, you might know one very famous piece in 5/4, the jazz standard "Take Five." When the top number is an even number, the meter is sometimes referred to as "duple." When the top number is 3 or divisible by three the meter can be called "triple." A traditional ballroom dance, the waltz, is in 3/4 time and serves as a good example of how the beats within a measure are often of uneven weight. In a standard waltz, the first beat is much more dominant than the other two "weaker" beats. The first beat of a measure is usually the heaviest and is often accented. The last beat is usually the lightest. In 4/4 time, the third beat is the second heaviest and the second beat is heavier than the last beat. So, the order of beats by weight is 1,3,2,4. The different weights are created by a number of musical events in both the melody and harmony as well as with the more obvious rhythmic accents.

Changing the Bottom Number Changing the bottom number of the time signature really changes how the music looks. But before we explore this we need to learn more about the different rhythm values used in music. Then, we will return to this topic.

Please continue with the next section of this lesson.

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2.1 The Time Signature & The Measure » 2.2 Notes Larger Than A Beat » 2.3 Time Signature Revisited