class: title, center, middle # I've Got Rhythm?  ### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D. ### College of Musical Arts --- # Familiar terms? * Made up of musical “tones” * Frequency * Duration * Amplitude * Timbre * Musical Terminology * Pitch * Rhythm * Dynamics * Timbre…? --- # Outline * Rhythm * Tempo * Beat and subdivision * Meter * Accents and syncopations --- # Rhythm * How sounds and silences are organized * In time * Made up of “notes,” AKA tones, sounds * Also includes “rests,” pauses between notes * When written: * Quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes, for example * Divisions of a larger grouping (a measure) .image-100[] --- # Rhythm * Beat * Consistent pulse * Marked (explicit) or not (implicit, like the clave) * Subdivisions * More than one note per beat * Duple, quadruple (“Twinkle”) vs. triple (“Row, Row”) <center><table border=0> <tr> <td style="padding:10px;">Beat</td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:10px;">Subdivision</td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#2471a3;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px 36px;"></td> <td colspan=3 style="background:#7fb3d5;padding:24px 36px;"></td> </tr> </table> <table border=0> <tr> <td style="padding:10px;">Beat</td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=6 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding:10px;">Subdivision</td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#884ea0;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> <td colspan=2 style="background:#c39bd3;padding:24px;"></td> </tr> </table></center> --- # Rhythm .image-40[.image-float-right[]] * Beat * Consistent pulse * Marked (explicit) or not (implicit, like the clave) * Subdivisions * More than one note per beat * Duple, quadruple (“Twinkle”) * Triple (“Row, Row”) * Blues/jazz shuffle <div style="clear:both;padding:10px;"></div> .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/embraceable-you.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio> ### Charlie Parker: "Embraceable You"] --- # Tempo * Rate at which the beat passes * Measured in “beats per minute” (BPM) * Or ambiguous classical terms: Adagio, allegro, presto * Can change, like with our friend Zorba .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/zorba.m4a" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio> ### "Zorba the Greek"] --- # Tempo * Rate at which the beat passes * Measured in “beats per minute” (BPM) * Or ambiguous classical terms: Adagio, allegro, presto * Can change, like with our friend Zorba * Or stay really consistent, like: .center[ <!-- <video width="560" height="300" controls> <source src="/assets/staying-alive.ogv" type="video/ogg"> <source src="/assets/staying-alive.mp4" type="video/mp4"> </video> --> <iframe width="448" height="240" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fNFzfwLM72c?si=82orRqTLlgZA4YR2" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ] --- # Tempo * Rate at which the beat passes * Measured in “beats per minute” (BPM) * Or ambiguous classical terms: Adagio, allegro, presto * Can change, like with our friend Zorba * Or stay really consistent * Free rhythm has no discernible beat * May have pulses, but they are inconsistent * Karnatak *kriti* from southern India “Sarasamadana” * Once the *tabla* enters, what was the meter? .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/sarasamadana.m4a" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] --- # Meter * Systematic grouping of beats * Number of beats per group = meter * Measure/Bar is one metric unit * Duple, quadruple meter * Juan D’Arienzo: “A Media Luz” .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/a-media-luz.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] * Triple meter --- class: middle, center .center[ <!-- <video width="560" height="360" controls> <source src="/assets/mariachi.mp4" type="video/mp4"> <source src="/assets/mariachi.ogv" type="video/ogg"> </video> --> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yjJDv1IeF8I?si=NRGziQ80TMMDekiZ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ] ### Mariachi Sol “Cielito Lindo” --- # Accents and syncopations * Accent: a note with an extra emphasis * Volume (dynamics), range (pitch), stress (timbre)… * Syncopation: accent falling between beats * Consistent off-beat rhythms: Jasbir Jassi “Kudi Kudi” .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/kudi-kudi.m4a" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] * Polyrhythmic grooves: Seckou Keita “Founé” .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/foune.m4a" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] * Creating ambiguity: James Brown "Sex Machine" .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/sex-machine.m4a" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] * And sometimes it's just hard to tell: Thomas Mapfumo "Mhondoro" (Ancestral Lion) .center[<audio controls="controls"> <source src="/assets/mhondoro.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"> </audio>] --- class: title, center, middle # I've Got Rhythm?  ### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D. ### College of Musical Arts