Extra ideas about Notes & Beats

Extra ideas about Notes & Beats:

Eighth and Sixteenth Notes (quaver and semiquaver):

There are many possible combinations of eighth notes (quaver) and sixteenth notes (semiquaver) we can use. To make reading easier, it is necessary to learn to identify and comprehend these formulas of combinations. The following table shows some of the most common combinations. The sixteenth notes (semiquaver) below the written notes indicate the subdivision in four equal parts of the beat.

Eighth-Note (quaver) and Sixteenth-

Note (semiquaver) Rests:

There are also symbols to represent silence with the value of eighth notes (quaver) and sixteenth notes (semiquaver):

Note		Rest
Eighth (quaver)
Sixteenth (semiquaver)

Triplets:

To this point, we have only subdivided each beat in two or four equal parts. However, it is also possible to divide a beat in three equal parts, with the use of triplets. Triplets are notated by writing the number 3 above the group of notes that will form the triplet. Note how, as in the second example, we can join two of the eighth notes that are part of the triplet, forming a quarter note inside the triplet.

Beat Unit:

Until now, we have used the quarter note (crotchet) to represent the value of a beat. Nevertheless, we can indeed use any note value to serve as the beat unit. In time signatures the lower number indicates the kind of note that gets one beat, i.e., quarter note/crotchet (4), half note/minim (2), eighth note/quaver) (8), sixteenth/semiquaver note (16), etc. (see Time or Meter Signatures for more information).

               If we use 2 for the bottom number, the half note (minim) will then become the beat unit. We will now illustrate a series of rhythmic formulas written using the time signature of 2/2. Note that the half note (minim) now represents one beat, the quarter note (crotchet) is a half beat and the eighth note (quaver) is a fourth of a beat.

Simple and Compound Meters:

The kinds of measures we have studied so far use what is known as simple meter. With simple meters, each beat is subdivided in equal halves. In the case of a 4/4 meter, each beat is divided into two eighth notes, as we saw earlier.

With compound meters, each beat is subdivided into three equal parts. We can tell a compound meter because it uses 6, 9 or 12 for the top number of the time signature. Let’s take a look at several examples of the compound meter of 6 over 8 (6/8). This meter actually has two beats; the note value that has the value of a beat is the dotted quarter note (crotchet), which can be subdivided into three eighth notes (quaver).