Beat, and rhythm are  integral components  of time in music.  Understanding them enables one to  determine the function of  time  in music.  In this discussion, we will examine beat and its relationship to  rhythm,  plus meter in this  topic. We will  discuss  rhythm  in moire detail  in the following topic :

Beat:
A beat is  a pulse  (think  of heart beat) that we feel as we listen to music. It  is a unit of measure, like inches on a ruler.  We want to  feel the beat in music we hear noting that some beats are easier to feel   (stronger) and others more difficult to feel (weaker ).  Some music may have no sense of a beat. It  would be considered to be  “non metric”    The composer’s intent dictates  how strong or weak  the beat will be in a composition.

You  feel beats if  you march in a parade – You feel beats also when dancing.  When you move your feet,  tap your foot, clap your hands, dance, march  etc. you are feeling the pulses or beats of the music.  Note that the beats are even. They have the same  distance in time  and space from each other.   Important: Beats do not constitute rhythm. However, they are integral to determining rhythm.  Play Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachmusik, First Movement” below. Feeling the beat in this work should be easy because the beat is quite strong.  Play it until you can feel the beat easily. Remember that the beat represents a unit of measure – steady and even – like seconds on a clock or inches on aruler.

Special note:
Most of us  can feel the  beat  with popular music or jazz.  Determining  beat In classical music  may require more attention to determine. Do not assume there is no beat or beat is not dis=cernible. Some music from the Middle Ages and very Contemporary music may not have a discernible beat. But most music does have a beat. Work to feel it.

 Meter –  The next step –   Grouping the beats  

If we can feel the beat out next step is to attempt to group the beats into a pattern. Most music  enables us to do this. If the music is not complex and straight forward, we can do this even though we  may have  little background in music.  Meter is defined as   the arrangement of notes in a pattern of strong and weak beats. One may  determine meter by counting the number of beats from one strong beat to the next.  If beats are non existent or extremely weak,  meter may  not be present or simply non existent. First step in determining meter is to feel the beat. If you can not feel the beat you can not determine meter.

In a musical score, the time signature appears at the beginning of the piece, as a time symbol or stacked numerals. Below are some common time signatures and how they are placed on the staff.

Common Time Signatures

The first example is 4/4 time.  In this time signature there are 4 beats  in each measure (shown by the top number), and  the quarter note represents one beat  (bottom number).

The time signature 3/4 tells a musician  there are three beats in each measure (the top number) and that a quarter note represents one beat  (bottom number).

Determine Triple meter:  If the meter feels like  “strong-weak-weak-strong-weak-weak”,  it is triple meter. Such a pattern would be  one strong pulse followed by two weak  pulses in a 1-2-3-1-2-3- sequence.

Conducting meters:
The conductor: The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats (meter) which is our concern here, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble. Communication is non-verbal during a performance, however in rehearsal frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung.

Watch the following short video about conducting with simple meters. Remember that, in simple meters, each beat can be divided into two equal parts.

Conductors use different conducting patterns for the different meters. These patterns emphasize the differences between the stronger and weaker beats to help the performers keep track of where they are in the music.

Note that conducting patterns depend only on the pattern of strong and weak beats  –  “how many beats there are in a measure” –  not “what type of note gets a beat”. One can talk about meter without worrying about the time signature or even being able to read music. (Children can be introduced to the concept of meter long before they are reading music.)

Watch the following short video about conducting with simple meters. Remember that, in simple meters, each beat can be divided into two equal parts.

Conducting the Meters  The illustrations below are  summaries of the illustrations presented in the video above video.

Duple Meter

Examples of duple meter are 2/4, 2/2, or fast 6/8 time. For duple meter below, it is a simple down-up pattern, with the most weight on the first beat, as it goes straight down, with the second beat rebounding back up to the top.

Triple Meter Examples of triple meter are 3/4 or 3/2.  The first beat, again, comes straight down, beat two rebounds, over to the right, and three rebounds from two (on the lower plane) and back to the top.

Quadruple Meter:  Examples of quadruple meter are 4/4, 4/2, or 4/8.  A conductor would sweep out an upside-down T shape to conduct quadruple meter. For our purposes in this course we are calling  these four beat meters –  duple meter.

 

LISTEN: DO-IT-YOURSELF CONDUCTING

(The links in this file are very helpful and fun in practicing meters)

Listen to and conduct the samples in this link.

Practice determining  meter: Can you determine the meter of these songs above?  First  conduct  the simple duple examples and simple triple examples.  The  check the  “Free – no bar lines”  selections  to experience no meter (no regular beat) Once you get the idea here check the  Asymmetric (Irregular) (5/8, 7/8, 5/4…m  examples. You will not be asked to identify these in this introductory course but you may enjoy hearing them!  Now try other songs you know  such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” or Silent Night.  Determine which beat has more weight to the determine the stronger beat and  determine  whether the meter is  groups of two or groups of three.

 Always go back to feeling the beat before you begin to determine the meter.  The meters introduced in this course are simple meters. More complex maters (compound meters) would have  subdivisions of beats.    One example is 6/8 meter  (six beats per measure).  The beats for 6/8  can be divided into either (1) two groups of three or  (2) three groups of two.

Now it is your turn!! Listen and determine the meter in the following files!

Example 1: Listen to the first movement of Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony. The beats  can be grouped into a pattern The tempo is fairly fast so be aware of this as you look to feel the meter in this  faster  tempo.  Listen to the first minute or two.  What is the  meter – duple or triple?

Example 2 – This is  Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachmusik, First Movement”. First, look to  feel  the beat. Assuming you can do this  determine the “grouping” of the beats. You should be able to tell the meter.

Mozart, “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” I. Allegro performed by Les Dissonances – David Grimal May 2007.

Having trouble?  Try these steps: As  you play the selection, think of  marching!  Move each foot (sitting in place):  left – right, left – right, left – right  Does this marching “fit” the beat pattern for this work? If so, the meter is duple.  Notice an emphasis on the first beat of each group: 1, 2; 1, 2; 1, 2; 1, 2.

Example 3 (triple meter) – Now, play Verdi’s “Rigoletto (La Donna e Mobile)

See if a pattern of 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3 feels right. If so, you have a piece in triple meter. This grouping of beats refers to meter. We want to first feel the beat; then, group the beats:

• duple meter = groups of 2
• triple meter = groups of 3

Listen to  these examples: Identify  their meters!

Handel’s Water Music: Listen to Handel’s “Water Music: All Hornpipe”   https://youtu.be/3w4XFnUZm_Y    Try marching to this excerpt (left – right, left – right). It probably does not feel very comfortable to march to this selection. Again look at the meter  diagrams in Conducting the Meters above. Try the triple meter pattern. It fits!! You are feeling triple meter (threes)!

Hildegard:  Alleluia – In Maria benignitas / Alleluia – O virga mediatrix:

No discernible meter. The beat is weak in this piece, and, in fact, the rhythm of this work follows the inflection of the words; hence, there is no real beat and no thought about meter. Meter was not discernible in a lot of  this early musc.

Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Movement 3

The meter is triple.  Be aware that it starts with a “pickup” beat.  Feel the accents on the first beat of each group of three.

Haydn Symphony No. 100

Haydn  Symphony 94

Note that you could march to these last two examples. Does a feeling of left – right, left – right feel comfortable? Try conducting in threes; this should feel more awkward.

Tchaikovsky Trepack from the  Nutcracker

(Trepack)  – This is a duple meter.

Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto Listen to the opening movement from Haydn’s trumpet concerto.

As you listen to the file  try “marching”  to it.  If you can march comfortable to this the meter is duple.

in each measure, and  the quarter note represents one beat. The top number of the time signature tells how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number tells which note will represent one beat. Sometimes 4/4 time is represented by a large C, because it is also know as common time.