Written Piano Music and Rhythm Part 1

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Written Piano Music and Rhythm Part 1
Rhythm is something that can be improvised or changed easily if you know the piano
well. Think about singing: You can sing by holding some notes longer and cutting
other notes shorter. You do not need to be told how to do it.

If you want to learn a song that you do not know, written music can be used to help you
understand the rhythm. Also, if you want to play in an ensemble that is playing from
sheet music, you will stay in time with them better if you play from written music as well.
The first thing you need to learn about rhythm is the time signatures. The time
signature is written to the right of the treble and bass clefs on the first line of a piece of
music. If the time signature changes within the piece, a different set of numbers is
written at the point where the change is about to take place.

A time signature is two numbers, one over the other. The top number tells you how
many beats there are to a measure. A measure is a unit of the musical piece that is
marked off by a vertical line through the staff. There should be identical vertical lines
through the treble and bass staffs at various points. Try to find them on your music.
The bottom number tells you what kind of note makes one beat. Therefore, a 3/4 time
signature would mean that there are three notes to a measure and these notes are
quarter notes. As you become more familiar with piano rhythms, you will see that the
time signatures are more of a suggestion than an order to stamp your foot and play a
quarter note with each beat. However, to begin it is easiest if you do if you tap your foot
and play one beat per every note of the type listed in the bottom of the time signature.
Notes have different values based upon how they are written. A whole note is the basis
of the rhythm. A measure can consist of a whole note and nothing more. In 4/4 time, a
whole note is worth 4 beats. This makes sense when you consider that a quarter note
is worth 1 beat. 4 quarter notes would make one measure. Four fourths equals a
whole.

Music rhythm is very similar to math. In fact, it has been shown in studies that babies
who are exposed to hearing music with complex rhythms are better at complex math
later in life. To begin, though, you only need to know a few simple equations.
If a whole note is worth 4 quarter notes, it can be worth two half notes as well. A
measure can also be divided up into eighth notes. A whole note, two half notes, or four
quarter notes are worth eight eighth notes. When you add a dot to a note, it adds half
again to that note. So, a dotted half note would be worth three beats, or the duration of
three quarter notes.

The whole note is a simple circle with an open center. The half note is the same, but it
has a line coming up from the side of it, making it look different. The quarter note is like
the half note, except that the center of the circle is filled in. An eighth note has a small
flag on the line coming up from the note. It can look like this if it is alone: ?. Or it can
look like this if it is with another eighth note.