LESSON

Musical Content on Rhythm and Tempo

Objectives

In this lesson, the student will be able to:

1. get a bird's-eye view of content topics under rhythm and tempo as written in

the Department of Education (DepEd) curriculum; and

2. review and familiarize with the musical content pertaining to rhythm and tempo.

Introduction

Rhythm and Tempo are two elements of music that are very closely related

to each other, that is why we will review them side by side. If you look at the

Department of Education (DepEd) Music Curriculum, rhythm is taught in the first

quarter of a school year, while tempo is taught in the fourth quarter.

THINK: Overview and Review

First, it would be helpful to get an overview of content topics under these two

musical elements. The following outline has been prepared for you to already know

what to expect.

Rhythm

For Grades 1,2, and 3:

Difference between Sound and Silence

Steady Beats
Simple Rhythmic Patterns

Ostinato

For Grades 4 and 5:

Notes and Rests

Rhythmic Patterns

Meter and Simple Time Signatures

Ostinato

For Grade 6:

Same content as Grades 4 and 5, with the addition of 6/8 time signature

Tempo

For Grades 1 and 2:

Speed of Sound in Music

Difference between Slow and Fast in Music

For Grade 3:

Same content as Grades 1 and 2, with the addition of conducting gestures

For Grade 4:

Tempo Markings: Largo and Presto

For Grades 5 and 6:

Tempo Markings: Largo, Presto, Allegro, Moderato, Andante, Vivace, Ritardando,

and Accelerando

Now, let us review some important musical concepts under Rhythm:

1.Rhythm - is the aspect that covers the flow and movement of music as
ordered in time.

Meter - is a repeating pattern of strong and weak beats. Meter can be

categorized between simple and compound.

a. Simple Meter - is the type of meter wherein each beat in a measure of

music can be naturally divided into two equal parts. For example, in the

time signature 3/4, each measure contains three quarter-note beats, and

each of those beats divides into two eighth notes.

b. Compound Meter - is the type of meter wherein each beat in a measure

of music can be naturally divided into three equal parts. Common

examples of these are the times signatures 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8.

The common types of meter used are: duple, triple, and quadruple meter.

a. Duple Meter - is the type of meter where beats are grouped in twos. The

best example of this is a march, reflecting the movement of our two feet.

See the following example:

ONE TWO, ONE TWO, ONE TWO; or left right, left right

12 2

(There is a natural strong accent on beat one; beat two is the weak beat.)

b. Triple Meter - is the type of meter where beats are grouped in threes.
An example of song that uses this meter is "Bahay Kubo."

ONE TWO THREE, ONE TWO THREE

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(There is a natural strong accent on beat one, while two and three are

both weak beats.)

C. Quadruple Meter - is the type of meter consisting of four beats. An

example is the Christmas song, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

ONE TWO THREE FOUR, ONE TWO THREE FOUR

12341234

(One and three are the strongly accented beats, while two and four are

weak beats. Note: Beat one is slightly stronger than beat three, even if

both of them are considered strong beats.)

Downbeats and Upbeats - A downbeat is the first beat in a bar or

measure of music, and usually has the strongest accent. An upbeat is

the last beat in a previous bar or measure of music that immediately

follows a downbeat. In the quadruple meter example above, the first beat

is the downbeat, while the fourth beat is the upbeat.

3. Ostinato - is a short, consistently repeated pattern found all throughout a

piece of music or in one of its sections. It may be melodic, or rhythmic in

nature. In a melodic ostinato, sometimes the pattern and/or pitch is slightly

changed for variation.

Different Notes and Their Time Values

Notes are symbols that depict how high or Whole Note

low a musical pitch is, and also its duration.

a Whole Note - to be played or sounded for Half Note

b. Half Note - to be played or sounded for Quarter Note

2 beats

C. Quarter Note - to be played or sounded

for 1 beat Eighth Note

d. Eighth Note - to be played or sounded for

1 Sixteenth Note

of a beat

e Sixteenth Note - to be played or sounded Types of Notes and Their

tor - of a beat Respective Symbols

Whote Note

Hail Note

Quarter Note

Eighth Nor

Sixteenth Non

Note Values Equivalency Chart

Please take note that the note values above are not set in stone. The

values change with the time signature used. For example:

means that the type of note that will receive one beat is the eighth note, no

longer the quarter note. That means that an eighth note will receive one

beat, a sixteenth note will receive of a beat, a quarter note will receive

two beats, and so on and so forth. 2

In cut time (2/2) time signature: Since the bottom number is 2, the type of

note that will receive one beat is the half note. Therefore, a half note receives

one beat, a quarter note receives- of a beat, and a whole note receives

two beats among others. 2

5. Different Rests and Their Time Values

Rests are symbols that depict silence or WHOLE REST

the absence of sound.

Whole Rest -no sound for 4 beats HALF REST

b. Half Rest - no sound for 2 beats

Quarter Rest - no sound for 1 beat QUARTER REST

d. Eighth Rest - no sound for 5 of a beat

Sixteenth Rest - no sound for of a beat EIGHTH REST

SIXTEENTH REST

Types of Rests and Their

Respective Symbols
Just as in the case of note values, the value of rests change with the time

signature used. For example:

In the time signatures 2/8 and 3/8: Since the bottom number is 8, it

means that the type of rest that will receive one beat is the eighth rest, no

longer the quarter rest. That means that an eighth rest will receive one beat,

a sixteenth rest will receive - of a beat, a quarter rest will receive two

beats,and so on and so forth.

In cut time (2/2) time signature: Since the bottom number is 2, the type of

rest that will receive one beat is the half rest. Therefore, a half rest receives

one beat,a quarter rest receives- of a beat, and a whole rest receives two

beats among others. 2

6. Time Signature - It is a sign placed at the beginning of a musical composition

to indicate its meter. It is made up of two numerals. A common mistake is to

consider these two numerals as a fraction, for it is not. The upper number

indicates how many beats or counts there are in one measure, while the lower

number tells what kind of note (whole, quarter, half, eighth, etc.) receives one beat.

For example, let us look at the time signature 3/4:

What it means is that there are 3 beats in one measure, while the bottom

number "4" denotes that the kind of note that receives one beat is a quarter

note. Look at the following examples:

a
In both examples, we can see that each measure contains exactly

3 counts or beats.

Now, let us look at a different time signature, this time 6/8, a compound

duple meter.

In this time signature, what it means is that there are two primary beats,

each divided into three eighth notes, which gives us a total of six eighth

notes.In the macro level, we can see that there are two beats, which can be

represented by a dotted quarter note:

In the micro level, we can also say that these may be subdivided into six

smaller beats:

45

The eighth notes are grouped together by a horizontal bar above them

called a beam. In here, the beats 1 and 4 (micro level) are the strong beats,

while the others are weak beats. Hence, subdividing it into eighth notes, the

emphasis is like this: 1-2-3-4-5-6.

Now, let us proceed to the contents under Tempo:

1. Tempo - Basically, it is how fast or slow a piece of music is performed. The

Tempo Marking (in Italian) Meaning in English

Largo broad and dignified, very slow

Larghetto a little less slow than Largo

Adagio slow, relaxed

Andante at a walking pace

Andantino slightly faster than Andante

Moderato moderately

Allegretto a little lively

Allegro happy, quick

Vivace lively, with life, quickly

Presto very fast

Prestissimo very, very fast

Other terms used in conjunction with the abovementioned terms:

poco a little

poco a poco little by little

accelerando gradually getting faster

ritardando; rallentando gradually getting slower

molto much

piu more

less

meno
Conducting Gestures - Conducting with the hands is important to ensure

that performers sing or play together in time and to denote what meter or

time signature a piece of music is of. Look at the following illustrations for the

different gestures when conducting different time signatures.

EXPERIENCE: Conducting

Choose any song of your liking and identify its meter or time signature. To do

this, listen to where the strong beats fall in the music. Bring a recording of your

chosen song to class. Play that recording and conduct it with the right gestures,

first with one hand alone, then try with two hands.

Note: Some songs change time signatures in between sections, so make sure to

listen if the time signature of your chosen song remains the same all throughout.

Song/Piece: Time Signature: