What is rhythm in music, learn and master the rhythm

What is rhythm in music, learn and master the rhythm

Rhythm is a fundamental element in the performance of a musical work. You can talk about the independence of the rhythm of the melody. So each person could observe around himself thousands of examples of a separate existence, ranging from the heartbeat and ending with percussion instruments that do not have a pitch component. Melodies without rhythm are practically impossible.

Regardless of the degree of professionalism, each musician must reckon with the basics of rhythm, know the specific terminology, as well as be able to play a piece or musical piece in the proposed rhythm. This page deals with the basic concepts and terminology necessary for practice.

Rhythm, duration and pause

Let's take a look at what rhythm. The musical term is a clear organization of music in a temporary space. A structure is formed from a sequence of durations and pauses. The table shows the duration, as well as their designation.

Duration name	Record Designation		Number of accounts for one duration
	On the stave	Outside the music staff
Whole			1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
Half round			1 and 2 and
Fourth			1 and
Eighth		or	1
Sixteenth		or	Two times less than eighth

There is a special table showing the ratio of the durations of each other.

A separate category is triple. These durations appear when dividing not into two parts, as it happened in the above cases, but into three.

It is necessary to deal with such a concept as pause in a musical rhythm. A pause is a time period in music that is filled with silence. There are the following pauses:

1. The whole pause. The duration is equal to the whole note. It is denoted by a black, shaded rectangle above the third line of the music staff.
2. Half pause. Equal to a half note. It is denoted by a black rectangle located on the third line of the music staff.
3. The quarter pause is equal to a quarter. Denoted figure almost the entire musical staff.
4. The eighth pause is similar to the eighth pause. By designation resembles an uppercase letter "h".
5. The sixteenth pause is equal to the corresponding note. The letter is similar to the previous duration, the difference is the doubling of the tail.

It should be noted that some musicians perceive pauses as stops, as a result of which they stray from the general rhythmic canvas. A pause is a sign of silence that plays a big role in the work. It is strongly not recommended to eat pauses at the expense of another previous note, extending its duration. Otherwise, the musical thought is lost. It is especially important to consider this principle when playing in an orchestra, ensemble or team. After all, if pauses are not taken into account, the sounds will be superimposed on each other, creating a cacophony.

Basic terminology

The rhythm in professional music can not do without such concepts as time, meter, pace and size.

• Meter is a uniform alternation of accents in a piece of music.
• Tact is a unit of measure of a meter, which is calculated by notes or pauses. At four quarters, the first note in the beat is a strong beat, the second is a weak beat, the third is a relatively strong beat, the fourth is a weak beat. Between the bars are divided feature. Closes the product double trait.

• The size - two numbers, located one above the other, standing at the beginning of the music staff. The upper number shows the number of durations in a measure, and the lower one which duration prevails. The designation is located after the key and key signs. It is noteworthy that the indicator is duplicated only once at the beginning of the work, on the following lines you do not need to re-specify the size. The exception is the change to a new one.

The picture shows the size of 4/4 (four quarters)

Specifying quarters does not mean that only duration data will be used in a measure. Different durations can be used, but their sum should not exceed the size. Consider the right and wrong examples.

It is worth considering that the sizes are simple, complex, mixed and variable.

The first simple group includes mainly two or three-share sizes, in which there is only one emphasis on a strong share. The most common sizes are two quarters, two half, two eighth, three quarter, three eighth and three half.

Difficult sizes appear at the merging of two simple ones; usually they have to the main emphasis on a strong share, another additional relative. This group includes: four quarters, six eighths, twelve eighths, six quarters, etc.

Mixed make up a special category. They are formed from the connection of several simple different sizes among themselves. The group includes units such as five quarters, five eighths, as well as seven quarters and seven eighths.

Variable size is typical primarily for folk music, especially for the Russian folk song. A prime example is the song "Sitting Vanya".

The popular four-quarter size is depicted as a capital letter C, so do not be afraid of this designation.

• Pace - This is a musical characteristic that determines the speed of a musical instrument. Usually the tempo is placed at the beginning of the piece above the stave, and is written in Italian. There are three groups of slow, moderate and fast tempo notation. Depending on the set value, the artwork may sound different. Usually the tempo is set on a special device called a metronome. The higher the value, the faster the tempo will be.

Additional signs

There are some notation signs that are actively involved in the formation of rhythm. If two notes that are at the same sound level are lined, this means that the first sound must be kept in a total amount over time. This is usually required to maintain grouping in complex sizes.

For example, take the size of four quarters. It is complex and has one strong focus on the first beat, and one relatively strong on the third beat. Thus, the first and third beats of the measure should be notes. To record a quarter, half and quarter rhythm, you must follow the basic grouping rules.

So if after the note there is a point, then it increases its sound exactly in half. For example, a quarter with a point equals the sound of a quarter with an eighth.

Often duration with a dot goes along with such a concept as a dotted rhythm. The term refers to a rhythmic figure consisting of a duration with a point and its logical conclusion. So the most common options are a quarter with a point and eighth, eighth with a point and sixteenth. Consider the example of a note.

As you can see in the image, the dotted rhythm is used mainly on strong or relatively strong beat.

Another additional signs can be called fermat.

This musical sign indicates that the performer can withstand a note marked for an unlimited amount of time.

Basic rhythmoslog systems

There is a special rhythmoslogging system that helps in practice to learn how to correctly reproduce various durations. This system was invented in Hungary in the last century and was actively used in music schools in the first years of music education, when a rhythmic basis was laid. So, there are the following rhythm syllables:

• Whole - Ta-aaaa
• Half - Ta-a
• Quarter - Ta
• Eighth - Ti
• 2 sixteenth - Ti-ri
• Dotted rhythm: a quarter with a point and the eighth - ta-ai - ty.

Special rhythmic logs were also developed to determine pauses:

• The whole - Pa-o-oza.
• Half - Pa-a
• Quarter - Pa
• Eighth - pi

Such a perception of durations allows you to master even complex rhythmic figures several times faster and learn how to quickly read musical works from a sheet.

Exercise number 1. Mastering rhythmoslog

Sing the melody in the proposed rhythm using rhythm syllables.

Compare with the answer below:

Tips for quickly learning rhythm and exercise

1. Daily practice. However banal it may be, but daily practice can lead you to a good result. It is necessary to work on the rhythm about half an hour a day in order to achieve a solid base.
2. The first time is to use a metronome. Tap the rhythm on the table or the lid of the piano. Set a slow pace at first, from 40 to 60 beats, then move to a more moving pace. Try to immediately fall into strong shares.
3. Use the rhythmoslogging system.

It should be borne in mind that when playing the piano, two hands are included in the work. In this case, the rhythm in each of the hands may be different, in order to work out the technique in advance, you need to do special exercises.

Exercises to alternate the involvement of the right and left hands, creating a roll call. Upper line for the right hand, lower for the left. Tapping the rhythm is necessary at an average pace in which you will not make mistakes. When errors or stops appear, you need to move to a slower pace. You can knock on the table or the lid of the piano under the metronome.

№1

№2

More difficult exercises are those in which rhythmic figures are beaten off simultaneously with two hands.

№1

№2

If you want more exercises, then we recommend you to get acquainted with the textbook of Olga Berak "School of rhythm". The manual is divided into several parts in size. First, there are dvuhdolnye sizes, then there are threefold dimensions.

Programs for self-study

If a person is trying to independently master the rhythm without professional help, then he needs to carry out monitoring, which is achieved using modern technologies. There are special programs in which you can check your own knowledge of rhythm.

Absolute rumor 2

This program has developed a special section "Rhythm" in which you can find the following sections for mastering rhythmic figures:

• Theory. The category contains minimal basic information about the rhythm, and you can also hear how different durations sound in time.
• Reading. Using the built-in metronome application, you need to tap out the rhythm recorded above, avoiding errors.
• Dictation. It is necessary to correctly record the rhythmic pattern that you heard.
• Imitation. After listening to the rhythmic figures it is necessary to record them correctly.

In each of the above sections, there are additional subdivisions into specific rhythmic figures. This allows you to achieve perfection in rhythmic terms.

It should be noted that on the Internet there are a huge number of electronic metronomes, which are not inferior to real analogues. They are simple enough to adjust, and each person can independently tap the rhythm in which he is going to perform a piece or a piece of music.

On this page, we introduced the basic terminology that is useful to a novice musician, and also gave the necessary exercises and recommendations for learning the topic. The material will help to better understand the musical text, as well as quickly navigate and more accurately reproduce the musical notation.