Lesson path IV

Rhythm & Groove

Feel the beat, count it, write it down.

5 units · 0/21 lessons0%
Unit 11 · rhythm

The Pulse

Steady beat, first bars.
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11.1
The pulse
Tempo, the metronome, and your own two hands.
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11.2
The downbeat
Beats gather into bars. Beat 1 lands heavier.
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11.3
Marches & waltzes
Count in 4, count in 3. Feel the difference.
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Practice this unit:Rhythm room ◓Metronome ⚒
Unit 12 · rhythm

Dividing the Beat

Long, short, split, silent. Written down.
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12.1
Long notes, short notes
Whole, half, quarter. Each length has a symbol.
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12.2
Splitting the beat
Eighth notes and the '&' between the counts.
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12.3
Sixteenth notes
Split the '&' again. Four to a beat: 1 e & a.
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12.4
Silence counts
Rests are rhythm too. Silence with a symbol.
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12.5
The dot & the tie
A dot adds half again. A tie glues two notes into one.
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12.6
Read a bar
Symbols to counting. See it, then hear it.
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12.7
Name that rhythm
Strip the pitches. The song is still there.
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Practice this unit:Rhythm builder ◓Rhythm reading room ◓
Unit 13 · rhythm

Making Beats

Kick, snare, hat. Your first grooves.
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13.1
Meet the kit
Kick holds the floor, snare answers, hat ticks.
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13.2
The backbeat
Snare on 2 and 4. The clap of pop music.
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13.3
Build a beat
Sixteen steps, three lanes, your groove.
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13.4
Echo the beat
Hear a pattern, program it back.
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Practice this unit:Rhythm reading room ◓Song sketchpad ⚒
Unit 14 · rhythm

Groove

Threes, pushes, and lopsided eighths.
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14.1
Beats that split in threes
6/8: two big beats, three pieces each. The lilt.
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14.2
Syncopation
Accents land between the beats. The push that makes it groove.
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14.3
Swing & shuffle
Same notation, lopsided eighths. Long-short, long-short.
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Practice this unit:Rhythm room ◓Rhythm reading room ◓
Unit 15 · rhythm

Advanced Rhythm

Faster notes, tuplets, two pulses at once.
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15.1
Thirty-second notes
Split the sixteenth again: eight to a beat.
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15.2
Tuplets
Three in the space of two. Then five, then seven.
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15.3
Polyrhythms
Two pulses share one bar: 3 against 2, 4 against 3.
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15.4
Bigger ratios
Push past 4 against 3 until the pattern turns into texture.
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Practice this unit:Polyrhythm room ◓Polyrhythm player ⚒
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