| Author | Topic: I suck at this |
Aliciaep
Registered User
Registered:
4/20/2006 | posted: 4/21/2006 at 12:38:23 AM ET
i honestly dont understand i only understand like 4/4 and 3/4 but i can only play other music if someone plays with me its like a huge math problem to me its usually just in general......can anyone give me any tips? my music teacher says im making it way more complicated then it is and i cant figure it out i need help
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 Pete
Registered User
From:
North Coast NSW, Australia
Registered:
3/20/2005 | posted: 4/21/2006 at 12:43:40 AM ET
It's really just fractions of beats, in half, quater, eigth, etc.
There are lots of resources on the Net which will lead you throughj how it works, but he or she is right. Some people develop a mental block about note values and time signitures.
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MaestroC
Registered User
From:
Iowa
Registered:
n/a | posted: 4/21/2006 at 10:48:47 AM ET
A lot of my students get messed up at first when I as their teacher say that an eighth note gets half a beat. In their way of thinking at that point the only reference point they have is their math class and in math, 1/8 does not equal 1/2.
When I see this happening I try to take a different approach. Instead of thinking that an eighth note is half a beat consider that an eighth note is one-eighth of a measure in 4/4 time. Likewise a half note is one half of a measure. A quarter note is one quarter of a measure, etc.
Once you begin to think in that way, things line up easier in your head in terms of counting rhythms. In regard to the time signatures you can use the same logic. The top number is ALWAYS the number of beats in the measure, and is pretty easy to figure out. The bottom number is ALWAYS the length of note that is meant to represent one beat of the measure.
If the bottom number is 4 then you are dealing with quarter notes (1/4). If the number is a 2 then you are dealing with half notes (1/2). Likewise the same for eighth notes (1/ .
What you have to do when playing is realize that you foot will need to tap the beat for each one of those notes. If it is 3/8 time then you will tap your foot three times each measure but you will be tapping the EIGHTH notes not the quarter notes.
I hope this helps some. If you still have questions feel free to ask for more help.
Chad Criswell
Director of Bands
Western Dubuque High School
http://www.musicedmagic.com
http://www.wdhsband.com
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Pete
Registered User
From:
North Coast NSW, Australia
Registered:
3/20/2005 | posted: 4/21/2006 at 7:08:02 PM ET
When the notes are first introduced as semi-breves, minums, crotchets and quavers,etc, and their corresponding values explained, and the whole, half,etc note terms are introduced later, as is the system in Australia and I think the UK, much of this initial confusion is avoided, I find.
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 maintube
Registered User
Registered:
5/26/2004 | posted: 4/25/2006 at 11:20:08 PM ET
Think of it like this.
A quarter note gets 1 count.
A half note gets 2 counts.
A whole note gets 4 counts.
A dotted half not gets 3 counts.
Ties are combinations of counts (example: a half tied to a quarter is the combination or adding together of the note values 2+1=3)
When you play in 2/4 3/4 5/4 these values DO NOT CHANGE. As long as the 4 is on the bottom the note values will take of themselves as long as you play the correct note length.
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