Welcome back to Impulsive Artistry! Today, I am starting a
second article series in preparation for learning to write your own music! In
this fundamental series, we will cover several topics that are very important
for you to understand before we can jump into discussing how to compose music. Now
that you can read music (Treble Clef and Bass Clef notes), here is a list of
the topics that we still need to cover before getting to write some music: The
Beat, Tempo, Rhythm, Note Values, Rests, Time Signatures, and Common Key
Signatures. We have a bit to cover so let’s get going!
For those of you who would like to learn “How to Read Music,”
here are the links to the five-part article series on that topic:
___________________________________________
The Beat
In music there are two things that are universal to all
music: patterns and sound. Related to both of these concepts is the idea of the
musical beat. What is a beat? A beat is a pulse that underlies a piece of
music, which does not stop throughout the music, regardless of the duration of
the notes or silences in the music. Most people, when hearing a standard piece
of music like a pop or rock song, waltz or march can immediately feel the beat,
it’s the pulses that you clap or tap your foot to.
The beat allows us to divide the time intervals into equal
units; it also enables us to play together with other musicians, as every note
will be performed in relation to that beat. Here is an audio example of the
beat:
Can you feel the beat in this example, tap or clap with it?
Here is an Electronic Dance Music setting of this same beat
(a little bit faster) that I created this morning. Can you feel the beat now
and tap or clap along? It’s still there played by the drumpad, but with other
notes (faster notes) set against it:
_______________________________________________
Tempo
Please note that the beat can be fast (meaning each equally
spaced pulse occurs one after the next with little pause in-between) or slow
(meaning there will be more space in-between the pulses). The speed of the beat
is called the “Tempo” or “Time” in
Italian.
The standard way to calculate a tempo is in beats per minute
(BPM). Above is an analog clock with a “seconds hand,” take a look at that
hand (the red one). You know that there are 60 clicks per minute, because there are 60
seconds in a minute, if you were to clap along with the click of the clock’s
second hand, one clap per click, you are now clapping 60 beats (claps) each
minute or 60 BPM.
In music there is a number of Italian terms that we use
associated with different tempos (rates of beats), 50-60 BPM is called Largo
(slow) and is a slower tempo for a piece of music. 76-100 BPM is Andante
(moderately slow, walking), 100-110 BPM Moderato (moderately), and 120-140 BPM is
Allegro (Fast), 160-180 PBM Presto (Very Fast).
There are more, but these are the basic ones. You can
practice here clapping to a steady beat at different tempos using a device
called a metronome. To use this webpage, just click with your mouse the circle
above the number (BPM) that you want to clap along to (one clap per click). I
recommend that you start with a slower speed (tempo) first, like 76 BPM. Be sure
that you matching exactly to the beat, you must not clap before or after the
click, but in sync with it (at the same moment)! Have fun! These webpage also
has the tempo markings included so that you can see the BPM ranges of the
different terms.
Metronome Link: https://www.metronomeonline.com/
___________________________________________________
All right, that is everything we will cover today. I will
return next Friday with “Day 2 of the Fundamental Topics in Music,” where we
will explore the concepts of Rhythm, Basic Note Values, and a brief intro to
Time Signatures. If you do not already play an instrument, be sure to practice
clapping with the metronome at different tempos to get used to feeling the
beat. Again, make sure that you are clapping right with the click and not
before or after it, but in sync. We will build on this skill next time.
Try listening to some of your favorite music. Can you clap
along to the beat there?
Most importantly, have fun with this activity, and I hope
that you are enjoying learning about music here on Impulsive Artistry!
—Charles
Follow this Blog!
Follow Impulsive Artistry at these sites, CLICK ANY NAME TO LINK:
Follow by Email (Feedburner) — get instant updates when each new post is uploaded! Enter your Email Address in the box in the upper right sidebar to sign up! (May not be visible to mobile uses)
No comments:
Post a Comment