Chapter 4

Find the Beat, Feel the Rhythm

Time in Music

What happens at any given moment in music depends on four fundamentals Beat – steady, recurring pulse Rhythm – pace of music through time Accent – emphasis on musical sound Meter – duple or triple groups of beats;

accent on first beat; creates measures

Coordination in Music

Keeping more than one rhythm going at one time

One or more complex rhythms performed while keeping beat

Piano, organ, drum set, etc.

Metrical Patterns and Melodic Rhythms

Mixing meters Humans commonly seek patterns in

numbers and music Combine two or more meters to create

interesting rhythmic organization Melodic Rhythm

Distinctive rhythm pattern Can sense melody without the element

of pitch

Ludwig van Beethoven

Born in 1770 in Germany to poor family

Began to study violin and piano at age 4

First self-employed composer Three distinct style periods Became totally deaf in 1815

Rhythms in Everyday Life

Found instruments – ordinary objects used as instruments

STOMP Modern dance troupe famous for its use

of found instruments Experience music in a different way from

unexpected places

Improvisation Musician makes up music as he

performs Simultaneous composer and performer Done within musical boundaries

i.e., Elaborate on familiar melody Key feature in jazz Direct form of self-expression

Take chances Think ahead in the music

Among highest forms of human thinking

Rhythms in the Music of the Bamileke

Cameroon, a republic in Africa Lali (warrior) dance of the Bamileke

people Performed only by males Preparation and celebration Ability/skill in in battle, confidence, and

manliness; tribal unity and pride

Syncopation Shifting accents “off the beat” Accents occur on weaker beats or in

between beats Interruption of steady beat to create

unexpected imbalance Ragtime– American syncopated music style

Popular in early 20th century Amatuer musicians could buy sheet music Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, and Eubie Blake Syncopated melody over steady beat in bass

Scott Joplin

Born in Texas in 1868 Taught himself to play piano Published first collection of rags in

1899 Ragtime and Joplin fell out of favor

before WWI, but rediscovered in 1970s

Works considered American classics

Creative Rythms Successful long-running dance and

drumming acts (STOMP, Blast, Bring in Da Noise)

Unusual sounds, creative rhythms, imaginative showmanship

Blue Man Group Humor and unusual instruments

(barrels, pipes, etc.) Several troupes in locations around the

world Use of complex subdivisions of the beat

Vocabulary Accent – the emphasis

placed on musical sound

Meter – aural aspect of music in which a certain number of beats are grouped together

Measure – the division of beats into defined groups separated by a bar line

Improvisation – spontaneous musical invention

Ostinato – a repeated musical figure

Syncopation – deliberate shifts of accent so that it conflicts with the steady beat