Lesson #039, Rhythm and Counting II

Hi Everyone,

In 4/4 time the top number represents Beats per measure. The lower number represents the Type of note. I'm associating a measure in these examples with a pie. Suppose we have a Huckleberry pie sitting on our table. We then cut the pie into four evenly sliced pieces. In this example, each slice of the pie is equal to one beat. A quarter note in 4/4 time is also equal to one beat. It takes four quarter notes to fill up one measure. The pie / measure is still one whole pie / measure, the only thing we did was to cut the pie / measure up into four even slices.

Looking at the bottom number in 4/4 time. That number is a quarter note. You can look to the video to see what a quarter note looks like in music. Remember , in this example it takes four even slices to make one pie. It also takes four quarter notes evenly spaced to make one measure.

Here's an example of counting 4 beats per measure. 1 2 3 4 That is one measure in 4/4 time using the 1/4 note. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 That is two measures using the 1/4 note. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 That is three measures using the 1/4 note.

That example is assuming that we are playing a note on the banjo while counting at the same time.

Rock On,

David