Section 4: Rhythm

Rhythm is a very simple concept. The five notes shown in Figure F (page 10) represent the most widely recognized and commonly used notes in music composition. There are notes that are held for even smaller lengths of time. These include thirty-second notes, (half of a sixteenth note), and sixty-fourth notes, (half of a thirty-second note).

The combinations of notes with different duration lengths begin to form what is called rhythm. In the last section we had you sing Mary Had A Little Lamb to help show you the concept of duration. Sing it again and pay close attention to the pattern of the entire song. That pattern is the rhythm of the song.

The best way to convey the concept of rhythm is by doing, so here is another concept-building exercise.

Exercise:

Your exercise is to think of, and sing aloud three songs. As you sing them pay attention to the "pattern" of each song. See if you can determine the rhythm or pattern to the song.