Chapter 3 How Music Works Part I: Rhythm

The Four Basic Properties of Tones

Duration - how long or short a tone is. Frequency - how high or low a tone is. Amplitude - how loud or soft tones are. Timbre - analogous to the actual sound quality or ‘tone color’ of tones, to what they sound like.

Rhythm

See also Figures 3.1 and 3.2, page 35

Insights and Perspectives Mozart and “The Alphabet Song,” 35

Beat

The beat is the steady, underlying pulse that occurs in much music. It provides the foundation for all rhythmic aspects of the musical organization. See also Figure 3.3, page 36.

Subdivision

Subdivision - when a beat is divided into smaller rhythmic units. Duple subdivision occurs with two evenly spaced notes, like “a, b, c, d” in “The Alphabet Song.” Quadruple subdivision is twice as fast - “l, m, n, o.” Triple subdivision occurs when three equal notes fill a beat. An example is in “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”: “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...” See also Figure 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6, pages

Meter

A measure is a grouping of beats into a larger unit. The number of beats in a measure determines the meter. Beats within the measure receive different emphasis: strong, medium, and weak. Star-Spangled Banner (triple meter): (S - w - w) Alphabet Song (quadruple meter): (S - w - M - w) See also Figures 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10 and corresponding CD examples, pages

Insights and Perspectives Clap on 2 and 4: Backbeats, 39 CD ex. #1-19

In styles like rock, blues, funk, and hip-hop, more emphasis is given to the second and fourth beats of four- beat measures. (These beats are called backbeats in such contexts.) This changes the groove or feeling of the rhythm completely. CD ex. #1-19 features Charles Atkins’ “A Funny Way of Asking,” which emphasizes the backbeats.

Insights and Perspectives Three Beats or Seven?, 40 CD ex. #1-21

Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Romania frequently feature music with meters of 5, 7, 11, or 13 feats. Westerners would describe CD ex. #1-21 as having seven beats per measure ( ). The Romanian artists would describe it as a triple meter, with two ‘short’ beats followed by a ‘long’ beat in each measure. This is an example of different perceptions of music held by cultural insiders and cultural outsiders.

Accent and Syncopation

Accents are notes of rhythms that get special emphasis - usually played louder than the surrounding notes. Syncopation describes accented notes that fall between beats. West African music is often described as syncopated, but West Africans themselves usually do not think of it way. For corresponding CD examples, see page 41.

Tempo

Tempo is Italian for “time” and refers to the rate at which the beats pass in music. Tempos may be constant (unchanging) or variable (sudden or gradual accelerations or decelerations). CD ex. #1-23

Free Rhythm

Music with a discernible beat (and usually meter, tempo) is called metric. Unmeasured music is described as nonmetric, or in free rhythm. It tends to ‘float’ across time, rather than march along to it. CD ex. #1-24