Lesson Tutor: Elements of Music Notation: Rhythm

Elements of Music Notation : Rhythm
by Elaine Ernst Schneider and Joanne Mikola

Beat	Standard of measurement in musical time. One beat lasts until the next one begins.
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Meter	Basic grouping of beats
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Rhythm	Pattern of longer and shorter note values used. Note: One note cannot have a rhythm. It takes two to create a pattern.
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Time Signature	Two numbers at the beginning of the staff; top number telling how many beats per measure. The bottom number tells which kind of note gets one beat. .
2 — 4	The top number tells that there are 2 beats in a measure ———————————————————— Bottom number says the quarter note gets one beat.
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4 — 4	Here there are four beats in a measure ————————————— The quarter note, again counts as a single beat
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6 — 8	There will be six beats in a measure ———————————— One eighth note = 1 beat
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Key Signature	Denotes the number of sharps and flats. These tell what key the music is in.
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Order of Use	The clef always appears first, followed by the key signature. These are repeated on every staff. The time signature only appears at the beginning of the song, unless there is a time change.
	In order: treble clef, one flat. and 4/4 time. and bass clef, one flat, and 4/4 time . In order: treble clef, three flats, and 2/4 time. and bass clef, three flats, and 2/4 time

Assignment : Rhythm Worksheet 

Continue on to Miscellaneous Notes for Music Notation
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