Week Two - Pitch and Rhythm

Pitch and Rhythm

This week looked at pitch and rhythm, and the difference between the two. In the context of this course pitched instruments will refer to those that provide the melodic element of a song or piece of music. Examples are the guitar, piano (or keyboards), strings and the human voice. Rhythm instruments provide the beat or percussive element to music and commonly include the drum kit, shakers (or maracas), tambourine and bongos. It is important to remember that percussion instruments will also have a pitch (or note) and melodic instruments (such as the guitar) can be played in a rhythmical way!

Time Signatures

The main purpose of this section was to look at the 4/4 time signature and specifically to make sure that everyone can count bars of 4/4 along to a piece of music. It looked like everyone was fairly comfortable doing this, however if you are still unsure I would suggest practising along to house music (such as the Nathan Fake track in the playlist). House music is a good way to get your head around 4/4 because the kick drum (or bass drum) is generally found on each beat in the bar. Basically if you count along with the kick drum you will be counting in 4/4! We also looked at 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4 which are handy to know but not essential for this course. Examples are in the playlist if you want to practice. Examples where this skill might be useful to you might be: if you ever need to set a delay in time to the music, or perhaps be responsible for sending a click track to the drummer.

Variations in Pitch

Being able to detect different pitches is important for a number of reasons. Arguably the most important is that it will help you identify different frequencies of feedback (the sound engineer's worst enemy!). Learning to properly use EQ (equalization) will also be much easier if you can do this. For this course you need to be able to listen to a pair of notes and identify the note that has a higher pitch (or note). If you have access to an instrument make sure you practice this at home. Even inanimate objects can have a pitch- try tapping different areas of a table, couch, cushion etc and see if you can tell any difference in pitch between two areas. It might seem easy but it's all good practice!

Tracklist

1) Outhouse - Nathan Fake (4/4)
2) Port Rhombus - Squarepusher (4/4)
3) River Man - Nick Drake (5/4)
4) No. 13 Baby (outro) - The Pixies (14/4 or 3 bars of 4/4 and 1 bar of 2/4?)
5) Repeaterbeater - Mew (too many time signatures to count!)
6) The Stroller - Jaill (4/4)
7) Come Save Me - Jagwar Ma (4/4)
8) Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix (3/4)
9) Take Five - Dave Brubeck
10) 7/4 Shoreline - Broken Social Scene (7/4)
11) Sure Shot - Beastie Boys (4/4)
12) I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash (vocal goes up and down in key throughout the song)
13) I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones (goes up in key after the solo)
14) School's Out - Alice Cooper (Goes down in key for the bridge and again in the chorus)
15) Living on a Praver - Bon Jovi (Last chorus goes up in key)

Powerpoint slides