Lesson Thiee - !

"#"$


In lessons one anu two we zeioeu in on a geneial point in time - the beat (&') anu a
few of its sibling sub-uivisions (ex. &' () (')! Focusing in on one beat is like being
in the musical heie anu now! No neeu to stiess about the futuie (making the
changes, tiansitions, phiases etc.) oi feel guilty about the past (i.e. the S against 4
you misseu in the S
iu
measuie of the 2
nu
section of the 1
st
veise)! This howevei is
like tiying to communicate with one-woiu sentences. Now we all know that shoit
expletives can be extiemely effective, but we also know that we can pack so much
moie meaning into laigei units - hence ihythmic *"#"$ oi *"'+,$"+!
Nusical *"#"$ is nothing moie than simply giouping beats togethei. Bowevei to uo
this, a beat must take on multiple "uynamic" peisonalities! We'll accomplish this by
applying the same sounus (syllables) that we useu to uistinguish each pait of oui
sub-uivisions in lesson two.
In the following exeicises we'll focus on foui basic meteis founu in Westein music
24, S4, 44 (common time) anu 22 (cut time).
1. -./ = &' (' 2 beats pei unit. The beat (&') is iepiesenteu by a quaitei note.
Beat 0 is &' anu beat - is ('.
2. 1./ = &' () (' S beats pei unit. The beat (&') is iepiesenteu by a quaitei
note. Beat 0 is &', beat - is () anu beat 1 is ('.
S. /./ = &' (' 2) !) 4 beats pei unit. The beat (&') is iepiesenteu by a quaitei
note. Beat 0 is &', beat - is (', beat 1 is 2) anu beat / is !)3
4. -.- = &' (' 2 beats pei unit. The beat (&') is iepiesenteu by a half note.
Beat 0 is &' anu beat - is ('3
24 anu 22 aie auially (musically) synonymous! The visual (notation) is all that's
changeu in oiuei to simplify the "ieauing" of highei sub-uivisions (i.e. sub-uivisions
of 8 |S2
nu
notesj oi moie). Also take note (no pun intenueu), that 44 is not just two
24 measuies put togethei!
Exeicise S.
Staiting with a metionome setting of 6u bpm, sing each of the following meteis
(24, S4, 44 anu 22) '3 with an infinite numbei of iepetitions, 43 in gioups of 2, 53
in gioups of 4! In oiuei to keep youi place while singing gioups of 2 oi 4 (i.e. what
measuie you'ie on), apply pitch anu volume vaiiations to youi voice. Anu please, at
this point iefiain fiom othei methous of counting like numbeis, clapping anu bouy
movements. You neeu to "feel" wheie you aie in each gioup oi phiase!





Exeicise 4.
Exeicise 4 (on the following pages) is the same 128 beat composition "Stuuy 0ne"
consisting entiiely of quaitei notes (Ta) anu quaitei iests (R) in 24, S4, 44 anu
22. '3 Sing with "678& 9:;8<=>?@ A just use &' anu ;"+# B;C. 43 Sing using
"!7&7; 9:;8<=>?@ - &' (' 2) !) oi ;"+# foi coiiesponuing beat numbeis! When
peifoimeu with beat phiasing, all foui metei vaiiations of Stuuy 0ne viitually sounu
Iuentical! Netei phiasing puts back the natuial subtle uynamic feeling of the music!
The notes now fit within the metiic stiuctuie anu the simplest of ihythms have
come to life!
2
4
3
4
4
4
2
2
/
Ta Ka
/
Ta Ki Ka
/
Ta Ka
Di Mi
/
Ta Ka





q = 60 - 120
Study One 2/4
9
17
25
33
41
49
57
2
4

Ta
Ta (meter)
(beat) (r)
(r)
Ta
TA
Ta
Ka
Ta
Ta (r)
(r) Ta
Ta
(r)
(r)
(r)
(r)
Ta
Ka
Ta
Ta (r)
(r)
Ta
Ta
Ta
Ka
Ta
Ta
(r)
(r)

(Simile)

q = 60 - 120
Study One 3/4
6
11
16
21
27
32
38
3
4

Ta
Ta (meter)
(beat) (r)
(r)
Ta
Ka
Ta
Ta
Ta
Ki (r)
(r) Ta
Ta (r)
(r) (r)
(r)
Ta
Ta
Ta
Ki
(r)
(r)
Ta
Ta
Ta
Ki
Ta
Ka

(Simile)

q = 60 - 120
Study One 4/4
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
4
4

Ta (R) Ta Ta Ta (R) Ta
(R) (R)
Ta Ta
(R)
Ta Ta Ta (R)

(Simile)

q = 60 - 120
Study One 2/2
5
9
13
17
21
25
29
2
2

Ta
Ta (meter)
(Beat)
(na)
(ka) Ta
Ka
Ka
Na
Ta
Ta (na)
(ka) Ta
Ka (na)
(ka) (r)
(r)
Ka
Na
Ta
Ka (na)
(ka)
Ta
Ta
Ka
Na
Ta
Ka (na)
(ka)

(Simile)