In this section we put rhythm into measures at a specific tempo to do some applied practice of counting rhythms. First we will look at some visual examples to see how to count rhythms in a measure. Then we will have some practice pages in time at a given tempo.
How Do I Count Rhythms?!?
Some music students understand counting rhythms pretty easily, but many students struggle with this. If you are one who struggles with counting rhythms, you are not alone! These pages were designed for you!
When you read music, the rhythms tell you how long each note is compared to the other notes (twice as long, half as long, etc.). To fully understand how to count rhythms, we need to understand:
- The concept of downbeat and upbeat
- How to figure out where each note starts within a measure related to the downbeats/upbeats (e.g., on the 2nd beat of the measure, on the upbeat of the 3rd beat of the measure)
- How to perform that counting in time (i.e., apply tempo)
We will explore all of these topics in this segment!