Lesson video

Hi, I am Dr.

Southall and I'm gonna be teaching you this music unit about harmonic progressions and baselines.

So let's begin.

In this lesson, we're going to identify different rhythmic values and we're gonna be able to apply these to a ground base.

There's a number of key words for this lesson, so we're gonna go through each one in turn.

First is a semibreve, also known as a whole note, this is worth four beats.

Then we have a semiquaver, also known as a 16th note, and this is worth a quarter of a beat.

And we have a dotted note.

This type of note is worth one and a half times the value of the original value, and we'll explain that a bit more later.

We also have a tresillo, or tresillo, a syncopated three note rhythmic pattern stretched across four beats, often called a 3-3-2 pattern.

And finally, we have a habanera, a two beat rhythm that uses dotted notes and an accented upbeat.

There's three parts to this lesson.

The first is understanding different rhythmic values.

Rhythms are made up of different note durations.

Which of the following note durations do you recognize? And think about those key terms that we just looked at, 'cause they will apply here.

Well, we have the semibreve, we have a dotted minim, a minim, a crotchet, a quaver, and a semiquaver.

A semibreve is a four beat note.

A minim is a two beat note.

A crotchet is a one beat note.

A quaver is a half beat note, and a semiquaver is a quarter beat note.

And when quavers or semiquavers are played in groups, the tail of the note is joined together.

So two of them in a row will look like, you can see in the diagram there.

If it was semiquavers, incidentally, you would have a double bar rather than a single bar.

The American terms for notation can help with working out the subdivisions of a beat.

A semibreve is called a whole note because it usually takes up the whole bar.

And you can see these different terms here.

So we have crotchet as we know it, the American term for that is a quarter note.

A quaver, the American term is an eighth note, and a semiquaver, the American term is a 16th note.

When you put note durations together, you can create different rhythms. Work out how this rhythm will sound by using the beat counts before clapping along with the backing track.

So in the first example we have four crotchets followed by two minims, followed by a semibreve, followed by a semibreve.

And in the second example, we have two minims, four crotchets, and then a series of eight quavers, and you can see those tails joined together.

Then a crotchet, two quavers, and a minim.

So let's watch the video for the first one and see if you can follow along.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Now we're gonna listen to the audio of the second one.

</v> So see if you can follow along with the music on the bottom line.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->So, what you wanna do is listen to that back</v> and see if you can clap along with it.

So you might need to listen to it a couple of different times.

I'll try and give you a cue on the video as we go as well.

So here it is one more time.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Don't worry if you don't get</v> that last bar right first time.

It's a little bit trickier because it has a combination of different types of notes.

But keep practicing, I'm sure you'll do great.

Let's do a quick check for understanding.

Which is the correct rhythm for this notation.

So have a look at those notes.

You have a minim, a minim, four crotchets, a minim, a minim, and then a semibreve.

So does that sound like this for A? (wood tapping rhythmically) Or does it sound like this as B? (wood tapping rhythmically) Or does it sound like this for C? (wood tapping rhythmically) If you want to listen to those back, just rewind.

But the answer is B.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's try another one.

Which is the correct rhythm for this notation? So we have a crotchet, two quavers with their tails joined together.

Another crotchet, another crotchet, a semibreve, a crotchet, two quavers, two crotchets, and then another semibreve.

So does that sound like this, which is A? (wood tapping rhythmically) Or does it sound like this, which is B? (wood tapping rhythmically) Or does it sound like this, which is C? (wood tapping rhythmically) Again, if you want to listen to them back, just press rewind.

But the answer is C.

Dotted notes are worth one and a half times the value of the original note.

A dotted minim is three beats because a minim is two beats, so one and a half of that is three beats.

Nice bit of maths there for you.

A dotted crotchet is one and a half beats because a normal crotchet is one beat and we're gonna times that by one and a half, and one times one and a half is one and a half.

A dotted quaver is three quarters of a beat because a quaver is worth half a beat.

So that plus half of its value is gonna be three quarters.

Dotted notes are often paired with another note to fill the whole beat.

A dotted crotchet is often paired with a quaver.

So you can see in the picture there you have your dotted crotchet first, followed by your quaver with a tail.

Those are often paired together to fill the whole beat.

Let's listen to an example.

So see if you can follow along with the notation at the bottom.

We're gonna have a dotted crotchet followed by a quaver, followed by a minim, followed by a dotted crotchet, then a quaver, then a minim again.

And that pattern is repeated for four bars.

So you're gonna hear the same thing four times.

Here we go.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Okay, so let's just play that through one more time</v> and see if you can follow along with the notation.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->All right.

</v> A dotted quaver is often paired with a semiquaver.

At the same tempo it sounds twice as fast as a dotted crotchet and semiquaver.

Now let's just stop for a moment and look at that notation.

So the tails join together, but because the second note is a semiquaver, we're just gonna put that dash on it so it's like the second tail of the second note, but we can't join that to the first note 'cause that would mean that we had two semiquavers or a dotted semiquaver and a semiquaver in this example.

So it just sticks out but doesn't join with the note on the left.

So what we have now is a dotted quaver paired with a semiquaver.

Okay, and again, we've got the same rhythm repeated four times.

Let's have a listen.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->I have a strong temptation</v> to just start putting a beat to that, but I'm not going to, but we're gonna listen to it one more time.

See if you can follow along.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->All right, let's move on.

</v> Check for understanding.

True or false, a dotted note is worth twice the amount of the original notation.

Is that true or false? Whatever you decide, I want you to explain why.

Well, it's false.

The reason it's false is because a dotted note is worth one and a half times the original note.

For example, a dotted crotchet is worth one and a half beats, and a dotted quaver is worth three quarters of a beat.

There's lots of fractions in here.

Love fractions.

Independent practice now.

So work out the notated rhythms and then clap, or chant, or speak the rhythms along to the backing track.

If you're successful in this task, you should have done the following four things.

Identify how long each note is first, follow the counting strategy and make each dotted note half as long again, keep to a consistent pulse, and wait for the four beat count in.

All right, let's have a go.

We've got three examples here.

Let's listen to the first one.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->So you're gonna try and mimic that and clap along.

</v> So I'll play it one more time, but obviously you can just rewind to do this at your own pace.

But here it is a second time.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->How did you do?</v> It's tricky, isn't it? All right, let's have a look at the second one.

So this one's gonna have the same first four notes in the same rhythm, but then we've got slightly different for the second bar.

Let's listen to the example first.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Almost like rapid fire at the end, isn't it?</v> Right, let's listen to it one more time, and remember you can just rewind if you wanna hear it lots more times.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->And let's now listen to the final one.

</v> So this one has a different opening to the first two, but if you look closely, the second bar is actually the same as the second bar of the one we've just done.

Let's listen.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Did you spot that the first bar</v> is actually the same as the last bar of the first one as well? So we're just kind of combining the endings of the first task and the second one.

Let's hear it one more time.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->Did you use counting strategies to help you?</v> So often with particular rhythms it's easy to think of words or insert letters into the way that you are counting to force that spacing to the correct rhythm.

How successful was your performance of the rhythms? Did you, for example, start together after the four beat count in? Keep to the pulse dictated in the rhythm tracks, clap at the same time as the rhythms, and were there any rhythms that you didn't quite get right, and do you know why? They are quite tricky some of these and they certainly need a couple of times of practice to get your head around them.

But they're perfectly doable, just keep going.

Part two, the tresillo and habanera rhythms. A tresillo rhythm, or tresillo rhythm, if you want to do the Spanish pronunciation, is a distinctive pattern common in West African and Latin American music.

It's made up of a 3+3+2 pattern of notes.

Tresillo means triplet in Spanish, which links to the grouping of three notes together, but stretched over two or four beats.

The middle note of the tresillo rhythm is syncopated.

Listen for the second note falling between the second and third beats.

Now we're gonna watch this clip, but obviously listen at the same time.

And of course you can rewind it if you want to hear it more than once.

And I suggest once you've got your head around it, you see if you can tap the beat with one hand and the tresillo with the other hand.

Good luck.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two,</v> one two three, one, two, three, one, two one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two.

<v ->The tresillo rhythm can be played across four beats</v> or two beats.

It's essentially the same rhythm but played twice as fast.

You still count one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, but at double speed.

Let's listen to an example and see if you can follow along with the notation.

(wood tapping rhythmically) So if you think about that second one, let's listen to it again and think about that second part to it where we've got the one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two.

And see if you can sort of tap along to it.

(wood tapping rhythmically) Which of these is a tresillo? Is it A, B, or C? The answer is C.

A habanera rhythm is a repeated two beat rhythm which originated in Cuba.

This is a two beat rhythm because we see the same pattern twice in each bar of four beats.

So if you look at that first bar, can you see the repeated pattern happening after the fourth note? So there's four notes and then it's the same pattern of four notes straight after.

Like that, one, two.

And again here.

So you can see both of these types of rhythms use dotted notes so that we're emphasizing the off beat after the second beat.

And for the habanera, it's going to follow a sort of pattern that you can say the word to.

Like habanera.

Habanera.

Clap the habanera along to the backing track.

Remember to count and keep to a consistent pulse.

Let's listen.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->That sounds great.

</v> So can we listen to it again and see if you can clap along? Here we go.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> (hands clapping rhythmically) <v ->We are gonna play it one last time</v> and I'm gonna say the word habanera along with it so that you can get a feel for how the word helps inform how you play the rhythm.

Okay, listen carefully.

<v Instructor>One, two, three, four.

</v> <v ->Habanera, habanera, habanera, habanera.

</v> Which of these is a habanera? Is it A, B, or C? The answer is B Time for some independent practice.

How are the tresillo and habanera similar? Clap the tresillo and habanera rhythms along with the backing track.

I'm gonna play that for you in a second.

The success criteria for this task are as follows.

Wait for the four beat count in, clap the tresillo eight times, clap the habanera eight times and repeat.

So you might wanna listen to this clip a few times so that you can clap along on separate listens.

Let's listen.

(wood tapping rhythmically) (wood tapping rhythmically) (wood tapping rhythmically) So you can repeat that back by just rewinding.

I am feeling a strong impulse to start dancing around, but I'm gonna resist.

It's very effective music.

The habanera and tresillo rhythm are similar in that The second notes are both syncopated or emphasize the off beats.

Note we're using lots of technical vocabulary here to really make our answer accurate.

The main difference is that the second and third beats are not tied together in the habanera, so it's a four note rhythm rather than a three note rhythm.

Remember you can say the word to the rhythm, habanera.

There's our no tie and there's our tie.

Okay, two.

How do you know you clapped the correct tresillo and habanera rhythms? Well for the tresillo, did you do your count in correctly? Did you clap a three note pattern where the first two notes are longer than the third? So like (hums).

For the habanera, did you count one, two, three, and one, and two, and one, two, three, and one, and two, and habanera? And did you clap a four note pattern where the first note is longer, the second one is shorter, and the third and fourth of the same length? Adding new rhythms to our ground base.

Different rhythms can make a repetitive idea more varied and interesting for the listener.

We can use the tresillo and habanera rhythms to develop our ground base.

Let's watch this video of the ground base in the base clef.

(gentle piano music) We're now going to see it as a tresillo and as a habanera.

So watch each of these videos in turn.

Remember you can rewind them if you need to.

See if you can follow those rhythms along with the notation so that you're getting a feel for what it looks like and what it sounds like.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) Time for a check for understanding.

True or false, this is a habanera rhythm? Well it's true.

Why is it true? It's a two beat syncopated rhythm with an accented upbeat and dotted notes.

That's your technical answer, which is going to use all of that really good vocabulary for an accurate response.

Time for some practice again.

Play through the different rhythmic variations of the ground base.

Apply this to your own ground base, and your success criteria are as follows.

Use the correct notes from the ground base, play them in a tresillo rhythm, and then in the habanera rhythm.

And there is good fluency when changing between the different notes while maintaining the correct rhythm.

Good luck, have fun.

Here's an example ground base pattern to help you.

You don't have to use this one but you can use it if you want to.

If we wanted to convert that to a tresillo, you can see the example underneath.

And if you wanted to change it instead to a habanera, the alternative version is underneath that.

And notice we don't have any linked notes there.

Let's look at someone else's performance of the ground base with the tresillo rhythm and decide whether it's correct based on those criteria that we looked at earlier.

(gentle piano music) Well, this tresillo ground base performance is partially accurate.

The second and fourth notes, which were both the G, were played using the habanera rhythm.

The last note, which was a B, was played using the habanera rhythm.

It was played to a pulse and played with the correct pitches.

Hope you've enjoyed today's lesson, I've really enjoyed delivering it and we're gonna do, as normal, a quick summary of the key points.

The tresillo rhythm is a syncopated three note pattern stretched across four or two beats, and it's often called a 3-3-2 pattern.

The habanera rhythm is a two beat rhythm that is similar to the tresillo in that the second note is syncopated.

Both of these rhythms contain dotted notes, which is a type of note worth one and a half times the value of the original note.

We have adapted our ground base by either using the tresillo or habanera to add rhythmic interest.

Well done everyone, I hope you've enjoyed yourselves and I will see you next time.

Goodbye.