Simple Meter: Simple Divisions
Beats in simple meter typically have two equal divisions. Note values (whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, etc.) also divide simply into twos. So in this section, we’ll see lots of ways to divide things in half!
In any meter, we can of course get notes that last longer than a beat. We can typically track these simply by counting the number of beats (and parts of beats, as appropriate) they occupy.
Any of the notes in the cells below may be replaced by rests. When this occurs, we simply need to experience the rest as a (silent) part of the pattern.
The table below lists four common rhythms in simple meter. The table includes the following ways of understanding each rhythm:
- A reference number (for the purposes of the textbook and activities below)
- A verbal description
- Staff notation with three different possible note values used as the beat
- Takadimi syllables
- Number syllables
- Kodaly syllables
- Protonotation
| Reference number: | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description: | two even notes | four even notes | long-short-short | short-short-long |
| Staff notation (eighth note beat): | ||||
| Staff notation (quarter note beat): | ||||
| Staff notation (half note beat): | ||||
| Takadimi syllables: | ta di | ta ka di mi | ta di mi | ta ka di |
| Number syllables: | 1 and | 1 ee and a | 1 and a | 1 ee and |
| Kodaly syllables: | ti ti | ti ri ti ri | ti ti ri | ti ri ti |
| Protonotation |
Activity: Improvise and identify rhythms
Goal: Generate or identify the defined rhythmic cells.
Before you start: This activity works best with at least one other person. But you can also do it on your own; just skip step 3.
Instructions:
- Identify one person to improvise.
- The improviser comes up with and performs a short rhythm (perhaps 4–6 beats long) made up entirely of the rhythmic cells defined above, plus optionally notes longer than a beat.
- The other student(s) identifies/identify which cells were used and in what order.
If this activity feels too easy, go ahead and add pitches at an appropriate difficulty level to the improvised rhythm.
Activity: Read rhythmic cells
Goal: Notice when rhythmic cells occur in notated music.
Before you start: You’ll need a source of notated melodies or rhythms that primarily use the rhythmic cells listed above. Sight-reading anthologies are a good source, and often have chapters dedicated to foundational rhythms in simple meter; Open Music Theory also has appropriate materials here. You can do this activity vocally or on another instrument, including percussion.
Instructions:
- Look over the notation, note the meter, and set up an appropriate sense of meter internally.
- Scan over the notation, identifying rhythmic cells. Note that some notes in the rhythmic cells may be replaced by rests; you can still call up the “sense” of the rhythmic cell, simply experiencing the silence as part of the pattern.
- Perform the rhythm, with or without pitch.
Activity: Find rhyth