AREA OF STUDY

01:
RHYTHM AND
METRE
AQA GCSE Music
AREAS OF STUDY
AoS 01: Rhythm and Metre
AoS 02: Harmony and Tonality
A0S 03: Texture and Melody
AoS 04: Dynamics and Timbre
AoS 05: Structure and Form
RHYTHM AND METRE
This is all about beats, timing and sound patterns
Metre This is a regular pattern of beats in every bar, indicated
by a time signature

Rhythm is the way different lengths of sound are combined to
produce patterns in time.
PULSE
The pulse is the beat of the music. It is what you tap your feet
to.
Although the music may have rhythms made up of different
lengths of notes, the pulse or beat will be steady.
Listen to the start of this track
1. Tap the pulse
2. Can you describe what other rhythms are present around the pulse?
Track 01
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7kvabf8Oy8

RHYTHM - BACK TO
BASICS
= 1 beat
Crotchet
= 2 beats
Minim
Semibreve
Quaver
= 4 beats
= beat or
2 Quavers
DOTTED NOTES
Adds half as much again to the length of the note
Crotchet
= 1 beat
Dotted Crotchet
= 1 beats
= 2 beats
Minim
= 3 beats
Dotted Minim
Add a Dot
Add a Dot
TIME SIGNATURES
This shows us how many beats there are in a bar
TOP NUMBER tells you how many
beats there are in a bar
BOTTOM NUMBER tells you how
long each beat is worth
TIME SIGNATURES
THE BOTTOM NUMBER
2
2
3
4
6
8
A 2 at the bottom means
each beat is worth 1 minim
A 4 at the bottom means
each beat is worth 1 crotchet
An 8 at the bottom means
each beat is worth 1 quaver
TIME SIGNATURES
CONT.
4 x Beats every bar
Main beat of the bar
SIMPLE TIME
Examples of Simple Time Signatures are;
2
4
4
4
3
4
COMPOUND TIME
Compound time signature have 6, 9 or 12 as their top number
6/8 Time signature has a feeling of 2 & 3
Music in these time signatures feel as though they have a main beat,
which divide into 3.
Main
Beat
Main
Beat
Main
Beat
Main
Beat
Main
Beat
REGULAR AND
IRREGULAR
Regular Time Signatures are when the beats in a bar can be
grouped e.g.
2/4, 6/8 (2 beats per bar) DUPLE
3/4, 9/8 (3 beats per bar) TRIPLE
4/4, 12/8 (4 beats per bar) QUADRUPLE
Irregular Time Signatures are when the beats can not be
grouped as above
e.g 5/4 5 beats in a bar would have to be grouped as a 2 and 3
Listen to the Example:
The Time Signature is 5/4. It sounds like there is one group of 3 then one group of 2 (irregular)
Track 02
AUGMENTATION
This is where a melody or series of notes is repeated using
notes of a longer duration.
For example, a melody with the rhythm of:
Original
Augmentation
Notes are doubled in length
DIMINUTION
This is the opposite to Augmentation.
The rhythm of the melody is half the length
Original
Diminution
HEMIOLA
A Hemiola rhythm has a three against two feel.
For example, in this 3/4 rhythm there is a hemiola in the last
two bars, giving the impression of three minim beats in the two
bars of 3/4 time.
Hemiola
TRIPLET
A triplet is 3 notes all of the same length squeezed into the time
of 2 notes
Marked with a 3 above or below the middle of the three notes

STAR WARS
CROSS-RHYTHMS
These are when two different rhythms are played together at
the same time.
Usually conflicting against each other
Common in African Music
Track 04
POLYRHYTHMS
When two or more rhythms are played at the same time.
The rhythms may have accents in different places, but still feel
as though they fit together.
Lots of African music is polyrhythmic

Look at the example on the next slide.
POLYRHYTHMS
Track 05
BI-RHYTHMS Time signatures can be split up into different patterns of beats.
E.g. 3/4 can be divided into 3 groups of two quavers or 2 groups of
three quavers
01
02
TEMPO
Tempo simply refers to the speed of the music

It can measured in 'beats per minute (bpm)
E.g.

Tempo: = 120

The speed can also be indicated by an Italian word
120 crotchet beats every minute
TEMPO ITALIAN
WORDS
Presto = Very fast
Vivace = Fast and lively
Allegro = Fast, quickly and bright
Moderato = Moderately
Andante = Walking pace
Adagio = Slow
Largo = Very Slow

RUBATO
If this is written in the music, the performer is able to make
changes to the tempo.
In response to the way the music makes them feel, the
performer may want to slow down or speed up.
It indicates there is no strict tempo
DRUM FILLS
Drum fills are normally used to build the music up, or to change
between sections i.e. verse, chorus etc
Mostly found in Popular music, like Rock, pop, Jazz etc.
Notice how a drum fill
is used to open this
pop song.
Drum fills are used to
connect different
sections too.
Beatles She Loves You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0YifXhm-Zc