Download Triple Meter

Meter 1
Another important aspect of rhythm is meter. Meter organizes pulses into groupings called
measures depending on the pattern of stressed (strong/accented) or unstressed
(weak/unaccented) beats. If you have learned to read music, you know that there are many
meter signatures (also known as time signatures), such as 2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, and there can
even be 9/8 or 5/4. Knowing the meter signature is crucial when musicians read and
perform music because the top number indicates how many beats (or counts) are contained
in each measure, while the bottom number identifies the note value (e.g., quarter note (4)
or eighth note (8)) that gets the beat. For the listener, however, it is usually sufficient to
recognize groupings of 2 (referred to as duple meter) or groupings of 3 (referred to as triple
meter). Let's look briefly at duple and triple meter.
Duple Meter
A pattern of alternating strong (stressed) and weak (unstressed) beats creates duple meter.
This can be represented by a line of quarter notes in which strong pulses—marked with
an accent (>)—occur every other note.
Click to play a duple meter.
In duple meter, pulses are heard in pairs, with the stress or accent placed on the first pulse
of each pair, and the weak or unstressed on the second. Each pair of pulses constitutes one
measure. Tap the pulse of this excerpt and count.
Count out loud 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 as you listen. This is duple meter.
J. S. Bach
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air
Triple Meter
A pattern in which a strong beat is followed by two weak beats creates triple meter. This
may be represented by a line of quarter notes in which each strong pulse—marked with
an accent (>)—is followed by two weak pulses.
Click to play a triple meter.
In triple meter, pulses are grouped in 3s with the stress placed on the first pulse in each
group. Each group of three pulses constitutes one measure. Tap and count to this example
in triple meter.
Count out loud 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.
G. F. Handel
Water Music: Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349 - II: Alla Hornpipe
Some novice listeners confuse tempo and meter. They are two distinctly different
components of music and are independent of one another. A piece may be in duple meter
and have either slow or fast tempo:
Pulse
The pulses in much of the music we hear are grouped in duple or triple meter, but
sometimes composers decide to use other groupings, which are heard as mixed or changing
meter. For example, if a composer chooses to group pulses in 5s, it may be heard as a
group of 3 followed by a group of 2, then another group of 3 and group of 2.
The following is an example of mixed meter. There is a strong pulse and frequent accents
but no recurring pattern to create a clear duple or triple meter.
Igor Stravinsky
Born: 1882
Died: 1971
Period: Contemporary
Country: Russia
Igor Stravinsky
The Rite of Spring
Everything stated thus far in this lesson describes foundational elements of rhythm. Most
music has an underlying pulse that creates a tempo. Some pulses receive more emphasis
than others, creating a meter. Over these foundational elements are patterns of long and
short tones that create the unique rhythm patterns for each piece.
Some notes with long durations extend over several beats; others with short duration may
subdivide a beat. Listen to this 16-beat example and count each pulse. It should be easy
to follow the beat by listening to the string bass part.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Born: Eisenach, 21 March 1685
Died: Leipzig, 28 July 1750
Period: Late Baroque
Country: Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air
Now listen again and focus your attention on the highest part, played by the violin. Notice
that it begins with a long tone that is sustained over the first 10 beats, followed by some
shorter tones that subdivide the beat.
________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _____ _ _
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Rhythm patterns combine with pitch patterns to create melodies or themes, which give
structure to music. Composers will often repeat rhythm patterns (providing unity) with
different pitches (creating contrast).
Listen to a bit more of this piece and notice how the composer used the idea of a long
sustained tone followed by a few shorter tones in several different ways, but always on top
of the steady pulse played by the bass. There are other rhythm patterns played by other
string instruments in between the melody of the violin and the bass, but for this listening
exercise, try to focus only on the highest part, i.e., the melody.
J.S. Bach
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068: Air
Composers may also create a rhythm pattern and use it repeatedly in the accompaniment to
provide unity within a piece. In this movement fromWater Music, Handel created a pattern
of three short tones followed by one long tone and placed the long tone on an accented
pulse to give it even more emphasis. The result is a rhythm pattern
[ _ _ _ ____ ]
short short short long that becomes the main musical idea in this section of the piece.
G. F. Handel
Water Music: Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349 - II: Alla Hornpipe
Syncopation
Composers often use the element of surprise to hold our interest in music, giving us
something unexpected. We have heard how composers establish a steady pulse and
consistent tempo, create a meter by grouping pulses, and create rhythm patterns using
combinations of long and short tones. We generally expect rhythmic patterns, pulses, and
tempos to work together in a consistent manner, with stressed tones occurring at
predictable points in the music based on their relative length or because they fall on a
stressed beat.
Sometimes composers decide to change all of that and place stressed tones in unexpected
places. This is called syncopation. You are probably familiar with syncopation as an integral
component of musical styles such as ragtime, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, progressive rock,
progressive metal, groove metal, bossa nova, and samba among many others.
There are also multiple examples of syncopation in Art Music. We pointed out earlier that
the second movement Alla Hornpipe of the Suite No. 2 in D major by Handel is in triple
meter, meaning that the pulse is grouped in threes with the main accent being placed in the
first beat of each group.
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3
Listen once to the entire piece from beginning to end. Its duration is 2 minutes and 53
seconds.
G. F. Handel
Water Music: Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349 - II: Alla Hornpipe
You may wish to listen again, paying attention to the two halves of the first phrase—usually
called the antecedent and the consequent, or sometimes question and answer. Notice how
Handel places the accent away from the first beat in the antecedent, but brings it back to
the first beat in the consequent.
This is the antecedent phrase with the accent off the first beat:
Antecedent
Accent off the first beat
Now, listen to the consequent phrase with the accent on the first beat:
Consequent
Accent ON the first beat
Having listened to the difference between the two, try to see if you are able to tell if the
accent is on or off the first beat in the next two examples from the same piece:
Example A
Accent on or off the first beat?
Example B
Accent on or off the first beat?
Focused Listening
We are going to listen to the entire piece by Handel, focusing on the rhythm. Handel used 3
rhythm patterns as "main ideas" in this piece, and it will be helpful for us to have a way to
identify each of them. Since physical movement is often associated with rhythm for
marching or dancing, we will use movement terms to describe these rhythms.
The piece begins with a syncopated rhythm. One way to move to this rhythm would
be: Step, step, step, jump, step, run, run, run, jump, step. We will describe this as the
“Syncopated Jump-Step Pattern”.
Syncopated Jump-Step Pattern
Main rhythmic component in the first section of the piece
The second important rhythm pattern in this piece uses short durations to subdivide the
pulse. This suggests a rather fast movement that might be described as Run, run, run, run,
run a-long, Run, run, run, run, run a-long.
Second Rhythm Pattern
Main rhythmic component in the third section of the piece
These two patterns are the main rhythmic elements in the the first and third sections of the
piece. The middle section uses the important accompaniment pattern we heard earlier.
Accompaniment Pattern
Main rhythmic component in the middle section of the piece