How Music Works, Part I: Rhythm Chapter 3

The Four Basic Properties of Tones Property of Tone Musical Correlate Duration Rhythm Frequency Pitch Amplitude Dynamics Timbre Tone Color, Sound Quality

Rhythm in “The Alphabet Song” Rhythm: how the sounds and silences of music are organized in time. “The Alphabet Song” Eighth notes (“a b c d”) Sixteenth notes (“l-m-n-o”) Quarter notes (“p” “v”)

Beat Beat: the underlying pulse in a piece of music; what you tap your foot to when you listen, move your feet to when you dance Often marked by a steady stream of quarter-note pulses (e.g., “Alphabet Song”) Each pulse is a beat; the continuous stream of pulses is called the beat Sing “The Alphabet Song” while clapping the beat Clap along with the beat of “Uptight,” by Stevie Wonder [PL 3-1] (follow the drum part)

Subdivision Subdivision: Division of individual beats into smaller, even rhythmic units Types of subdivision: Duple “a b c d” in “Alphabet Song” Michael Jackson, Billie Jean [PL 3-2] Quadruple “l-m-n-o” in “Alphabet Song” “Knew he was a…” and “First time that I…”, etc., in Taylor Swift’s “…Ready for It?” [PL 3-3] Triple “Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily” in “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” Shuffle version (middle note of each group of three “left out”) “Life – is but – a dream” in “Row Your Boat” Blues shuffle ex., Charles Atkins, “A Funny Way of Asking” [PL 3-4] Celtic hornpipe essentially the same [PL 3-5]

Meter Meter: Grouping of beats together to form larger units One such group of beats is called a measure or a bar The number of beats in a measure defines the music’s meter Meters of two beats (duple), three beats (triple), and four beats (quadruple) the most common, at least in Western music Other, more complex meters may occur as well (5, 7, 11, or 13 beats per measure), and the meter may change from one bar or section to the next Often, there will be a pattern of different beat strengths, e.g., Strong- weak-Medium-weak (S w M w) in quadruple meter, S w w in triple meter

Meter Examples “Alphabet Song” “Star-Spangled Banner” meter of four (S w M w) (Fig. 3.7, p. 40) “Star-Spangled Banner” meter of three (S w w) (Fig. 3.8, p. 40) Egyptian music example “Alla Hai” (Hossam Ramzy) [PL 3-6] Meter of two (Fig. 3.9, p. 40) Mexican mariachi example “Cielito Lindo” (Mariachi Sol) [PL 3-7] Meter of three (S w w) (Fig 3.10, p. 41) Roma brass band, Romania, “Cantecul Miresei (Bride’s Song)” [PL 3-8] Meter of 7 (2+2+3) (Insights and Perspectives [I&P] box, p. 42) Bulgarian music by Ivo Papazov, “Kurdzhaliyska Rachenitza” [PL 3-9] Meter of 7 (2+2+3, but with “tricks”!) (I&P box, p. 42)

Accent and Syncopation Accent: note given special emphasis (usually played louder than notes surrounding it Syncopation: an accented note that falls between main beats Example with little to no syncopation: PL 3-10 (from Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) Examples with much syncopation: PL 3-11 (James Brown, “I Got You [I Feel Good]” – song starts at 1:09) PL 3-12 (Jasbir Jassi, “Kudi Kudi”– bhangra music – song starts at 1:35, syncopated “Hoi!” shouts at 2:30) West African drum-and-dance ensemble music [PL 3-13] Westerners describe such music as highly syncopated, but West African musicians may resist such a description (p. 43)

Tempo Tempo: the rate at which the beats pass in music Tempos range from from very slow, to slow, medium-slow, medium (moderate), medium-fast, fast, and very fast Sing the “Alphabet Song” at several different tempos; does the feeling and mood of the song change? Can be constant or variable, can accelerate or decelerate, suddenly or gradually The Athenians, “Zorba the Greek” [PL 3-14] – tempo accelerates gradually The Beatles, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” [PL 3-15] – sudden changes in both tempo and meter (e.g., at 1:56, 2:23)

Free Rhythm The term free rhythm may be applied to music in which there is no discernible beat, and in turn no discernible meter Examples: Opening section of a piece featuring the South Indian vina [PL 3-16] (which is in free rhythm up to the point where the mrdangam drum enters) Whitney Houston, opening section of “I Will Always Love You” [PL 3-17]