Duration, Rhythm, & Meter

This lesson is part of the Fundamentals of Sound & Music module.

Objectives

• Students will understand the concept of rhythm and how it is present in ambient sound, speech and music.
• Students will understand the concept of beat and meter.
• Student will become familiar with IOIs, ISIs.
• Student will be able to identify isochronous rhythmic layers in aural or written music and their interrelations: subdivision, beat, measure
• Student will understand the relationship between movement and beat in isochronous meters.
• Student will be able distinguish between metrical and phenomenal accents.
• Student will understand the difference of accent patterns for duple, triple, and quadruple meters.
• Student will understand the difference between simple/compound and complex metrical structures.

Resources

Readings

• Meter Terminology Handout
• "Beat & Tempo." (Music Crash Courses)
• R. Hutchinson. "Meter." (Music Theory for the 21st Century Classroom).
• F. Tobey. "Standard and Less Common Rhythms." (A Feeling for Harmony).
• "Grouping Beats." (Music Crash Courses)
• "Pitch Interactions with Beat and Meter." (Music Crash Courses)

Class Activities

• Discussion and definition of rhythm, beat, and meter.
• Aural analysis of rhythm, beat and meter in different types of music.
• Conducting of musical excerpts.
• Marching and dancing demonstrations for various meter types.
• Compare aural/felt metrical layers to notated scores.

Assignments

• Rhythmic analysis of different aural examples
• Meter scavenger hunt

Notes

• This section can be combined with meter/rhythm notation or can ideally be taught as a separate component that focuses on felt rhythm/meter. The latter approach allows students to get a "feel" for the beat, subdivision, and grouping prior to labeling with time signatures.