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Rhythm in MusicWhat is rhythm?Rhythm is the part of music that deals with time. It includes the following

things: 1. How fast the music is. 2. The length (or value) of individual notes. 3. How notes are grouped with others.

Note ValuesRhythms are indicated with notes that specify the rhythm to be played.The parts of a note are described below: 1. Note head - required - oval shaped object that can be filled in or

empty in the middle depending on the value of the note.

2. Stem - straight line extending up or down from note head. Notevalues smaller than a whole note will have a stem. 3. Beam - straight horizontal line that connects the stems of two or

more notes of the same value. Beams are used on notes that arean eighth note or smaller.

4. Flag - may be used instead of a beam. like the beam, they are onlyused on notes that are an eighth note or less.

Types of notesThe value of a note is determined by the type of notehead used, thepresence or absence of a stem, and the number of beams or stems.

Whole NotesThe largest note value used in music is generally the whole note, whichis a notehead by itself that isn't filled in:

Other note values are a fraction of the whole note.Half NotesThe next largest note value is a half note, which is half the value of awhole note. It is indicated with an empty notehead with a stem:

Quarter NotesQuarter notes are one-fourth the value of a whole note and areindicated with a filled-in notehead with a stem:

Eighth Notes An eighth note is one-eighth the value of a whole note. They areindicated with a filled-in notehead with a stem and a single beam or flag.Whether a beam or flag is used depends on the context. Two notestogether in the same beat will usually be beamed, while notes ondifferent beats may use flags.

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Sixteenth Notes

A sixteenth note is one-sixteenth of a whole note. They have two beams

or flags.

Thirty-second NotesThirty-second notes are one-thirty-second the value of a whole note.They have three beams or flags.

Relationship Between Note ValuesThe chart below shows the relative value of all of the notes mentionedabove:

Rests

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A rest indicates that nothing is to be played for the duration of the rest.Each note value has a rest of equivalent value. The chart below showsthe rests that correspond to each note value described above.RestDescription

RestImage

NoteDescription

NoteImage

whole rest whole note

half rest half note

quarter rest quarter note

eighth rest eighth note

sixteenth rest sixteenth note

thirty-secondrest

thirty-secondnote

The exact value of a note or rest is determined by the time signatureand tempo (explained below). None of these notes or rests have aspecific value except in the context of these things, with the exception ofthe relative value between notes and rests of various lengths. Forexample, a half note can be described as half the value of a whole note,

but unless there is a time signature and tempo, it is impossible to sayexactly how long the half note lasts.

Time Signatures A time signature specifies how many beats are in a measure and whichnote value gets the beat. A beat is the regular pulse in a piece of music.The beat is affected by the time signature and tempo. A time signaturewill tell you how the beats are grouped while the tempo will tell you howlong each beat is. All beats can be divided into smaller note values. Thisis known as subdividing.The time signature indicates the note value that is used as the beat andhow many of those notes occur per measure. A measure is a section ofmusic that is equivalent to the number of beats specified in the timesignature.Some measures, such as pickup measures , are an exception to the ruleabove. Pickup measures have fewer beats than the time signatureindicates.

A time signature is represented by two numbers stacked on top of eachother. Here is an example of 4/4 (pronounced 'four four') time signature.

The top number specifies the number of beats in a measure. Thebottom number indicates the note value that gets the beat. For example,

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the time signature above indicates that there are four beats in themeasure (top number) and that the quarter note gets the beat (bottomnumber).The numbers in a compound time signature have a different meaningthat those in a simple time signature. This will be explored further in thelesson on compound time signatures . The chart below lists the numbers that correspond to each note valuefor the bottom number in a time signature. These aren't the onlynumbers used as the bottom number, but they are the most common.Number

Note value that gets thebeat

2 half note4 quarter note8 eighth note

16 sixteenth note32 thirty-second noteClassifying Time SignaturesTime signatures are classified according to the number of beats in ameasure and how each beat is subdivided.Classifying by the Number of BeatsTime signatures are classified as duple, triple, or quadruple dependingon whether there are two, three, or four beats in a measure.Classification

Number ofBeats

duple 2triple 3quadruple 4It is possible to have more than four beats in a measure, but the beatswill usually be divided into groups of twos, threes, and fours. Thismeans that even though a time signature like 5/4 indicates there are fivebeats in a measure, it will generally be a pattern of two beats followedby three beats or three beats follow by two beats.Classifying by How Each Beat is Subdivided

Time signatures can be further classified as either simple or compound. simple: each beat is divided into two parts compound: each beat is divided into three partsThis doesn't mean that you can't have other subdivisions of the beat,but that the standard subdivision for most time signatures is either twoor three parts per beat.Classifying Common Time SignaturesThe chart below lists common time signatures and their classificationaccording to the rules above:Time

signature

Classification

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simple duple

simple triple

simple quadruple

simple duple

compound duple

compoundquadruple

Rhythms May Imply Other Time Signatures

It should be noted that rhythms don't always sound like the timesignature that is indicated. Due to accents and other musical devicesany time signature can be made to sound like any other. For thisreason, any music could theoretically be notated in any time signature.However, the time signature used is generally the one that makes themost musical sense.Equivalent Time Signatures

Although you will see time signatures like 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 mostfrequently, there are variations of these time signatures that are usedfrom time to time. These time signatures are equivalent in the way they

sound, but use a different note value as the beat. For example, 4/8 isequivalent to 4/4. 4/8 just uses eighth notes as the beat instead of thequarter note as in 4/4 time. The examples below show four measuresfrom Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The first example is in 4/4:

Below is the same music notated in 4/8. Both of these sound exactly thesame when played.

Instances of time signatures like 4/8, 3/8, or 2/16 are less common, butyou should be familiar with how they work. They may look intimidatingat first, but they are actually as simple as 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 once youunderstand the underlying concepts.

TempoTempo deals with how fast the music is played. Tempos can be anyspeed from very slow to very fast. The tempo will determine how long

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each beat is. There are two ways of notating tempos: textual indicationsand metronome markings.Textual tempo indications are words that have a specific meaningregarding tempo. They aren't exact and interpretation can varydepending on the piece, style, and player. Most of the standard tempoindications come from the Italian language and are more commonlyfound in classical music.Metronome markings include a note value and a number that indicatehow many of the note value occur per minute. For example, themetronome marking below indicates that there are 120 quarter notesper minute:

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