What is Rhythm... - *Rhythm in music is dependent on the fact that humans recognise a beat occurring at a regular interval.*
- *Rhythm in music is more than just a beat, however; it is the way that sounds with differing lengths (or gaps between them) and accents can combine to produce patterns in time which contain a beat.* - *These sounds do not have to be particularly musical; rhythms can be made by striking almost anything, as long as there can be difference in accent.* - *Differences in accent can mean different sounds or just different loudness (i.e. amplitudes) of sounds* - *It is common to speak of a particular rhythm, referring to a pattern of note lengths which occurs in a piece of music.* - *It is important to understand that the rhythm is defined by the pattern; the overall speed of it could vary from performance to performance, but the rhythm would still be the same.* - *The speed or tempo of a piece of music is indicated by a metronome marking and/or a direction word or phrase; its rhythm is specified by various note lengths creating beats within bars.* Regards, Ganesh * * On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 8:17 PM, Ganesh Narayanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What is a Bar or measure? > > > - Music is normally divided into equal time-lengths called bars (or, in > some countries, measures - see alternative names), each consisting of the > same number of beats. > - The time signature gives the number of beats in a bar and the type of > beats, so it tells you how long each bar is (in terms of the number and > type > of notes and/or rests in a single part in that bar). > - Bars dividers, called bar-lines, are indicated in a score by a > vertical line from the top to the bottom of the stave. A double bar-line is > written at the end of a piece: > http://neilhawes.com/sstheory/stave2pt.gif . The double bar-line is > sometimes written with the second line thicker than the first; this is > normally used at the very end of a piece, and two equal lines are used at > the end of sections. > - Bars give an intuitive division of a piece of music into manageable > chunks; the strongest accents come on the beat immediately following a bar > line, so it is relatively easy to count bars, and it should be easy to > count > the beats within each bar. > - The number of bars in a section of music is often regular; four bars > often make a short phrase, eight bars and sixteen bars are often the > section > sizes next largest. These numbers feel "natural"; a section of 17 or 19 > bars > often feels "wrong". This is because of a hierarchical structure of beats > strengths that we naturally feel; there is a strong accent on the beat at > the beginning of every fourth bar, an even stronger one at the beginning of > every eighth bar, and so on. > > > > On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 8:08 PM, Ganesh Narayanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> *Within the context of a piece of music, the word beat has a special >> meaning. It is the consistent pulse of the music, as in the previous meaning >> (above), but the special meaning also includes the duration of the beat and >> the way the beats are grouped.* >> >> >> - *The note length of the beat is specified by the time signature.* >> >> >> >> - *The time signature also specifies how many of these beats there are >> in a bar.* >> >> >> >> - *The speed of this beat is specified by any direction words and/or >> metronome marking.* >> >> >> >> - *The first beat in each bar is generally felt as stronger than the >> other beats in the bar. This might be literally by a stronger beat perhaps >> by a drum, or it might be implied by the harmonic or melodic shape of the >> music. Within a bar of four or more beats, there will almost certainly be >> a >> sub-division, which means that another beat in the bar will be felt as >> being >> stronger than the others, but not as strong as the first. This pattern of >> strong, less strong and weaker beats is normally governed by the time >> signature.* >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 8:07 PM, Ganesh Narayanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> >>> Jus thought of sharing some really useful Information that i found on the >>> net while trying to get some music lessons....of late hearing a lot of >>> musical Jargons on orkut...thought of reading up on them to understand what >>> do they exactly mean...hope u'll enjoy reading it!! >>> >>> What is a Beat.... There are two slightly different meanings of the word >>> "beat" in music, but the second is essentially a special case of the first: >>> >>> *1) Beat is the most fundamental concept of rhythm:* >>> >>> >>> - *A beat is a pulse that occurs at regular intervals, i.e. with >>> equal time intervals between the pulses, which is heard (and often felt) >>> by >>> humans.* >>> >>> >>> - *A regular beat can have an emotional effect on a person: for >>> example, it can be exciting, relaxing or irritating.* >>> >>> >>> - *There are probably many reasons why our brains "tune in" to a >>> regular pulse:* >>> >>> * >>> * Our heartbeat is (normally) regular >>> * When we walk or run, our feet land in a regular rhythm (in order to >>> maintain balance) >>> * To be able to judge time properly, we have to be able to accurately >>> subdivide it, e.g. count seconds* >>> >>> *# **These regular intervals could be any perceptible interval, but >>> experience shows that useful pulse speeds are those which can be counted and >>> felt, which are similar to the speed of walking, or the speed of a >>> heartbeat, i.e. between around 40 a minute and 200 a minute (over 3 per >>> second).* >>> >>> *# **In general, a slow beat will be about 70 or less, which can be >>> compared to a leisurely walking speed or a heartbeat in relaxation; a fast >>> beat will be from 120 upwards, which can be compared to a fast walk or run >>> or a fast-beating heart; generally speaking, a slow beat is relaxing and a >>> fast beat is exciting.* >>> >>> *#* *The beat may have a definite frequency or pitch, or it may not.* >>> >>> *# **Even if a beat is regular, it may not be exactly the same each beat >>> each time: >>> >>> * the volume may change in some pattern >>> * the pitch may change in some pattern >>> * the tone may change in some pattern >>> * any combination of any of the above may change* >>> >>> *# **When a beat is combined with patterns of accents, and other >>> patterns of changes in pitch, volume etc., then you have the beginnings of >>> rhythm.* >>> >>> >> >
