Download Introduction to Reading Western Music

Introduction to Reading Western Music - Lesson 1
Beats, Measure and Time Signature
Introduction
Music is a way of self-expression, which could stir up many emotions to the listener.
Since the beginning of music and even till today musicians that have the ‘ear’ for music prefer to
play and write their songs by listening and making their own specific memos or small written
diagrams to remember their melodies. However, this made it slightly difficult for others to
understand the music that was written. The western musical notation was developed to have a
standard practice of writing and reading music to ensure that there would be a solid communication
between artists and composers in which they both could understand each other and play their music
with the least amount of conflict and misunderstanding.
A basic understanding of the western theory of classical music will not only be able to allow you to
read other peoples compositions but also allow you to write your music down in a way that could be
read by others.
These lessons will aim to provide you with the basics of reading and understanding music al notation
in the western classical system.
Reading music
The system of music notation allows us to specify two of the main characteristics of music: The note
to be played, and its duration.
We will first look at how to specify the durations of sound.
Beats
Theory: Similar to the way a clock ticks, beats are a constant pulsation.
Practice: If you tap your foot to the constant tick of a clock you will get the pulsation or a beat at a
constant rate. Each tap of your foot is a steady beat or pulsation.
Measures
Theory: A measure is a pattern of a group of beats. These beats are grouped in numbers of two,
three and four.
Practice: By keeping a constant tapping to the tick of a clock we shall demonstrate the 2,3 and 4 beat
times.
2 Beat
Tap your foot to the constant tick of a clock and count one for the first beat and two for the second
beat. It should go like this:
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
This is similar to the Left, Right, Left, Right marching of an army in training.
3 Beat
Tap your foot to the constant tick of a clock and count one for the first beat, two for the second beat
and three for the third beat. It should go like this:
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
4 Beat
Tap your foot to the constant tick of a clock and count one for the first beat, two for the second beat
and three for the third beat. It should go like this:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
You may have noticed that the 1 in each example is in Bold. This is because the first beat is always
emphasised.
So now try again and tap with making the first beat louder than the rest.
Time signature
When you read music the first element you will see is the Time signature. The time signature is used
to represent how many beats there are in a bar and which note value establishes one beat.
The time signature appears at the beginning of the piece of music as a time symbol. This creates the
time count or beat that the piece of music will follow.
OR
Breaking it down
2 Beats per bar
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
3 Beats per bar
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
4 beats per bar
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
The time signature is quite similar to fractions in mathematics
This determines that there are 2 quarter beats in the bar. So basically 2/4 beats.
This determines that there are 3 quarter beats in the bar. So basically 3/4 beats.
This determines that there are 4 quarter beats in the bar. So basically 4/4 beats.
This concludes Lesson One. If you feel comfortable with the understanding in this lesson feel free to
move on to Lesson Two - Note Values - Basics 1
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