Saturday was our most recent studio class, and this month we focused on rhythm. Rhythm and understanding rhythm is incredibly important. I found this cool little blurb in the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA:
" Unlike a painting or a piece of sculpture, which are compositions in space, a musical work is a composition dependent upon time. Rhythm is music’s pattern in time. Whatever other elements a given piece of music may have (e.g., patterns in pitch or timbre), rhythm is the one indispensable element of all music. Rhythm can exist without melody, as in the drumbeats of so-called primitive music, but melody cannot exist without rhythm. In music that has both harmony and melody, the rhythmic structure cannot be separated from them. Plato’s observation that rhythm is “an order of movement” provides a convenient analytical starting point.... The mind apparently seeks some organizing principle in the perception of music, and if a grouping of sounds is not objectively present it imposes one of its own. Experiments show that the mind instinctively groups regular and identical sounds into twos and threes, stressing every second or third beat, and thus creates from an otherwise monotonous series a succession of strong and weak beats."
How many times do we listen to a song on the radio and may not be aware of the melody line or even the performer, but the beat stands out like crazy? How many times do we hear a song and start to "feel the beat" and want to dance? As you drive down the road, you can see people playing imaginary drums on their steering wheels! Rhythm, and subsequently the beat, are the backbone of every song. Therefore, having a good grasp on rhythm makes an excellent musician.
What are your thoughts on rhythm?
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