1. How Music Works, Part I: Rhythm
Chapter 3

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

3. 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”)

4. 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)

5. 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]

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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)

9. 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)

10. 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]