From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Rhythm

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Simple rhythm examples

Simple rhythm examples

From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Rhythm

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Simple rhythm examples

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- When writing a song we might express a rhythm by singing it, like going boom, chak, boom boom, chak. Boom, chak, boom boom, chak. If a drummer is around he could play it of course. (drums beating) Counting it out it's one, two, three and four. (drums beating) One, two, three and four. One, two, three and four. Using music notation we have a way to communicate it on the page or screen. What does that simple beat look like? Starting with one measure and using the neutral clef, we put the snare on beats two and four. This is called the back beat. The notes are written as 1/4 notes. For the kick drum part, the beat starts with the 1/4 note then there are two 1/8 notes. Notice that the flags of the two 1/8 notes are connected. This is common to do in music notation when two or more stem notes of the same duration are next to each other. Check out the Learning Music Notation course for more information on this. What if we want to add bass to this groove? Let's try it. Grab my trusty…

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