Lesson 5c - Meter in Practice
Lesson 5c - Meter in Practice
Meter in Practice
Meter is the organization of beats into regular groups of accented (strong) and unaccented (weak) beats. One grouping of a fixed number of beats is called a measure. Each measure is marked with a vertical bar line.
Types of Meters
Meters are classified based on the number of beats in a measure. Click on the tabs below to learn about Duple, Triple, and Quadruple Meter (LO5.2).
Two beats in a measure. | 1 2 | 1 2 | 1 2 |
LISTEN to the following example, and perform this pattern: "Tap (off), Tap (off), Tap (off)". Your "tap" should fall on the first (strong) beat with the cymbal. Repeat if necessary.
Press the play button below to listen (Hilley/Olson: Piano for Pleasure.)
LISTEN to the following example, and perform this pattern: "Tap clap Tap clap" while listening to the following musical excerpt. Repeat if necessary.
Press the play button below to listen (Hilley/Olson: Piano for Pleasure.)
Three beats in a measure. | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 |
LISTEN to the following example, and perform this pattern: "Tap (off) (off), Tap (off) (off), Tap (off) (off)". Your "tap" should fall on the first (strong) beat with the cymbal. Repeat if necessary.
Press the play button below to listen (Hilley/Olson: Piano for Pleasure.)
LISTEN to the following example, and perform this pattern: "Tap clap clap, Tap clap clap, Tap clap clap" while listening to the following musical excerpt. Repeat if necessary.
Press the play button below to listen (Hilley/Olson: Piano for Pleasure.)
Four beats in a measure. | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |
LISTEN to the following example, and perform this pattern: "Tap (off) (off) (off), Tap (off) (off) (off), Tap (off) (off) (off)". Your "tap" should fall on the first (strong) beat with the cymbal. Repeat if necessary.
Press the play button below to listen (Hilley/Olson: Piano for Pleasure.)
Division of the Beat
A beat is divided into two equal parts.
For example: | 1 & 2 & | 1 & 2 & | 1 & 2 & |
A beat is divided into three equal parts.
For example: | 1 & a 2 & a | 1 & a 2 & a | 1 & a 2 & a |
Rhythmic Patterns
Backbeat: | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |
When sharp accents on beats two and four in a four-beat meter, this pattern would be called the "backbeat". The accents are generally marked by a loud stroke on the snare drum, and backed up with cymbals or other percussion instruments. Backbeat is a characteristic of rock and related musical styles.
Listening to the following musical excerpt. During the introduction, say: "one-two-three-four" on the first four beats, then perform this pattern: "(off) Tap (off) Tap, (off) Tap (off) Tap, (off) Tap (off) Tap" when the chorus begins.
Press the play button below to listen ( Hollywood Movie Hits, Men in Black.)
When the accents occur on beats that are not usually stressed, we call it "syncopation". For example, the first phrase of the song "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer" was written in syncopated rhythm. When you sing the first phrase, the first accent falls on the second half of the first beat, i.e. "ruDOLF the red-nosed reindeer ..." instead of the usual accent pattern "RUdolf the red-nosed reindeer ...". Syncopation displace the accents away from the normal stress patterns of the meter and can add interest to the rhythm of a piece of music. Most jazz and popular music is syncopated.
Rags were a late nineteenth-century musical style that used constant syncopation in a march-like form. The syncopated rhythm came to be called ragtime. Click and listen to the following example:
Press the play button below to listen ( Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag)