Talk:Rhythm
From Academic Kids
Ok, this is pitiful. Rhythm is a huge aspect of music and we should have a decent page on it. I'm willing to do the initial writing (not promising any brilliance), but please help generate ideas. What needs to be on this page? I have music specifically in mind here, but other uses should be addressed as well. Of course, if you want to add the material, go for it ;) -- Merphant
- I've started an expansion, but it's still weak. -- Merphant
| Contents |
Topics that still need to be addressed:
- basic role in music
- on beat/down beat up beat/off beat, maybe seperate articles?
- common rhythms: rock beat, surf beat, clave, etc.
- mention contemporary electronic music with its driving rhythm
- Please don't lump all electronic music in with dance music. In some cases it has no percussion at all. If you are going to talk about driving rhythm then please stick to the relevant genres. sugarfish 03:03, 16 Sep 2003 (UTC)
- more stuff that I can't think of right now
The first sentence, "Rhythm is the measure of a movement by regular recurring accents." means nothing definite to me. I look at it and say, "How could I measure a movement? Is that like measuring the jump of a frog? And how are 'accents' used to do this measuring? Is an accent like an Italian accent or a German accent?" Somehow I don't think that the original writer meant anything like this, but that is just a guess. I could try to guess what the reader was trying to say and edit the sentence on the basis of my guess, but there is just too much "slop" in the passage to make that a sensible strategy.
Patrick0Moran 02:23, 12 Sep 2003 (UTC)
Things like the down beat and, it seems, specific rhythms like clave, really belong in meter and not the more general rhythm, since, for instance, clave is always in cut time (2/2), which is a specific meter.Hyacinth
Patrick, I changed the first sentence to "Rhythm is the measure of movement in time by regular recurring accents." I realize that doesn't really clear anything up if don't already know what rhythm is. To attempt to explain: accents mark off points in time, the length of which is measure by the distance to the next accent of similar strength. The existance and strength of an accent is determined by its volume, attack, and other factors. This is opposed to the two following situations: where there is a stream of randomly accented randomly spaced sounds, and when there is a steady stream of regularly spaced sounds of the exact same accent. Even in these situations one tends to arbitrarily group the sounds and construct a more regular or differentiated rhythm. If someone (you?) wants to add this to the main article I'd appreciate it.Hyacinth
Macedonian, Bulgarian and other Balcanian Rhythms
Can anyone give any information about Macedonian, Bulgarian and other Balcanian Rhythms. They have very unusual rhythms as 7/8 (3 - 2 - 2) and 9/8 (3 - 2 - 2 - 2).
Everything I know about "Rhythm"
In the most basic rock rhythm used in almost all popular music since the 50's:
- The bass drum plays on the "onbeat", 1 and 3
- The snare drum plays on the "offbeat", 2 and 4
This is the simplest and a basic rhythmic interest and tension used in virtually all contemporary popular music: "boom-chick", and many variations exist, often formed from adding or leaving out, replacing with rests, beats. A variant of this is the familiar "boom-chick boom-boom-chick" of someone beatboxing. Meanwhile:
- The cymbal plays the "ride", eighth notes, 1&2&3&4&
- The bass will play supportively rhythmically and harmonically, often playing the root and fifths of chords strongly on the onbeats.
- The rhythm guitar will play supportively harmonically and rhythmically, while adding some degree of rhythmic interest. Often an additive 12312312, or divisive/metrical 1&2-&3&-4&, rhythm.
- The lead vocalist and lead guitar will provide more melodic and rhythmic interest, with the lead guitar often supporting the vocals. The drummer, in addition to playing variations of the main beats may augment them with fills and otherwise add rhythmic interest.
When creating variations on the main beats through subtraction or addition of notes the role of a beat in supplying amibguity and resolution relative to other beats may be taken into account. For instance, removing the important first beat drastically alters the feel of the rhythm, and is common in some reggae music.
In bossa nova, there is no offbeat, and syncopation is used in many other ways. In the most basic bossa nova rhythm:
- The bass drum still plays 1 and 3.
- The clave plays the clave son rhythm, 1&2-&3&-4& 1&-2&-3&-4&.
This was featured recently in a Nike commercial, in which the tired and slow cross country team being led by cheerleaders chanting, "Nobody runs like [Tommy] runs, Oh Yah!"
examples & clave separation
hi.
i think that this article needs to display examples of different types of clave written in western musical notation. this would make the article much more interesting in that different clave patterns can be compared cross-culturally. no?
and i think that if undertaken this would be a significant enough expansion to warrant a separate article. peace — ishwar (SPEAK) 16:19, 2005 May 15 (UTC)
Rythm the most important element in music
Would it be correct to say that Rhytm is the most important element in music and why?
Florence
I wrote a small essay about rhythm
How wonderful it is to listen to an orchestra play, as you unleash yourself to the harmony, melody, and different timbres that characterize each instrument! However try taking out the maestro from the stage, can you imagine the chaos that will happen? Who will tell the guitarist when to stop and the vocalist when to start? Thus I believe that without doubt each element plays a very important role in creating a successful musical experience, yet rhythm is one of the most important elements of music since it is the time element.
Almost everything in our lives follows a certain rhythm, a time cycle. The sun has a time to rise and a time to set. Even the globe rotates on a certain pace. What would happen if there was no pattern for these things? What if the sun would just set in the middle of the day or the globe would just start spinning very fast? We would be lost, confused, puzzled to all these changes. It is like the orchestra without a maestro. The same applies for music, rhythm is essential to organize the time in music. When listening to music I feel the need to nod my head or pat my foot along with the beat. This is due to the organization of rhythm, which marks the character and expression of music.
In contrast the time element, rhythm, may be free. Such as the central Javanese gamelan music, but then again this free rhythm only last for the first 11 seconds, before which rhythm takes its place. The Javanese syakuhati is also an example of free rhythm, where the musician is free to improvise; hence melody plays a more important role in this case. Therefore even if the rhythm is free like in the syakuhati, there is still a time element that drives the musician to stop blowing or to prolong the blow. The strong existence of this element cannot be ignored.
Finally, every element has its own flavor to add to the richness of a certain musical composition. However, although some type of music can have a free rhythm, rhythm does exist in most types of music and plays the role of the maestro in an orchestra!
Florence
