FUNDAMENTALS I 7
LESSON 2 – RHYTHM AND METER
performed, is essential for musicians who wish to develop a high level of ensemble playing, where playing at the correct time is arguably more important than playing the correct pitch. Inaccurate performances
Time in music is organized by regular pulses, or beats, which are grouped together and divided. The grouping together of these pulses results in meter. The way in which the beat is divided distin- guishes the meter type. We naturally tend to group large numbers of beats into smaller units to aid in comprehension and memory. The most common groupings are into twos (duple), threes (triple), and fours (quadruple simple) or three (compound) equal parts. These divisions can then be further divided into subdivisions.
how the beats are grouped divided parts). Now listen to a performance of the second movement (Rondo) from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Copy signature.
In musical notation, groups of beats are marked by measures, or bars, with barlines indicating where one group ends and another begins. The number of beats in a measure will typically be two, three, or four, with exceptions possible, but not common. The way in which a beat is divided determines how a meter is indicated by its meter signature (or time signature , which is a duple simple meter. This type of meter is used when the beats are grouped in twos (duple) and divided into two equal parts (simple). In signatures for simple meters, the top number indicates the number of beats beat. In , there are two beats in each measure and the quarter note represents one beat. Other common simple meters are triple simple (e.g. , , ) and quadruple simple (e.g. , , ). Note durations are indicated by various note values, which are relative to each other and to the prevailing tempo, or speed of the music. Example I.2.1 shows common note values in relation to each other. A dot immediately following a note head increases the duration of that note by one half. ReviewExample I.2.1 8 ESSENTIAL MATERIALS OF MUSIC THEORY: PART I
divided into three equal parts. This music is in a duple compound meter, and is notated in . In contrast to notation of simple meters, the meter signature used for compound indicates the number of divisions in each measure and which note value receives the division of the beat divisions of the beat, which when added together make up two beats. In , the eighth note equals one division of the beat, and we add three eighth notes together to determine that a beat lasts for the duration - common compound meters include triple compound (e.g. ( , , ) and quadruple compound (e.g. , , ). To determine which note value receives one beat, three divisions are added together. The beat in a compound meter will always and performed at a moderate or fast tempo will be conducted in two, not six.
Example I.2.2
Mozart – Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major K. 331, third movement mm. 1-8 Copy
Review FUNDAMENTALS I 9
Example I.2.3
Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 19 in g minor Op. 49 No. 1, second movement mm. 1-8
The interpretation of a meter signature is dependent upon the tempoCopy of the music. Very fast or very - druple meters. For example, when a piece in is marked at a very fast tempo, it is usually performed and conducted as a single compound meter with one beat per measure divided into three parts. The third movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, marked “Presto,” is an example of this meter type.
If the top number of a meter signature is larger than four and is not divisible by three, the meter is either irregular or complex. Irregular meters are those that have more than four beats, such as a slow or moderate (e.g. Mars, the Bringer of War The Planets) or a slow or (e.g. certain measures of Barber’s Adagio for Strings). Complex meters have beats of unequal lengths within a measure, , which is grouped into two beats (duple complex) is an example of triple complex grouped into three more standard grouping of eight eighth notes.
Example I.2.4 Review