Time, tempo and rhythm

Click here for the general overview

Let’s take a pause from the scales that we’ve seen in the previous Pomodoros, and direct our focus to another crucial element of Music : Time !

Disclaimer : This topic is not so much the official version of rhythm and tempo as taught in music lessons, rather my own interpretation of what these terms mean to me.

In his book “The Music Lesson” Victor L Wooton, or rather the character Michael sais something like “If it wasn’t for Time separating them, all notes would sound together” (not a literal quote).So, music without the flow of time is impossible.

But even when you do have notes separated from each other in time, still you don’t necessarily have music. Think of all the sounds you here on the street or in a factory. What’s missing is a “time pattern”, aka rhythm.

The basic element of a rhythm is the beat. A beat is not so much something striking something else (e.g. the drumstick hitting the drum), but a sudden intensification of a vibration, aka a pulse. That pulse can be audible, visible or tactile. The most basic pulse for a human being is the heartbeat, first heard and felt in the mother’s womb. You could say that it’s the first music a human being hears, even subconsciously.

But when we talk about “the beat”, it’s not just 1 beat. It’s the sequence of beats that happen in regular intervals. Again, think of the heartbeat. It happens on regular intervals (otherwise you would have a medical situation !). So, you hear – or feel – a beat, and then some space, then the beat again, then again the same length of space, and so on and so forth. This is the basic pattern, the basic rhythm.

Tempo is nothing else than the speed of those beats and their intervals. If your are calm and relaxed, your heart beats at a slower tempo. If you are running or stressed, the tempo is higher. But still, you have the same beat, the same rhythm.

Now, let’s introduce another convention : every beat with its space, let’s call that a “measure” or “bar” : In standard music notation and tab, they are indicated by a vertical bar crossing all the lines of the staff :

(BTW, it’s tab for the 5-string banjo in case you’re wondering).

As you notice, in the examples above we have 1 beat per measure, which is the most simple rhythm.

Now, do the following exercise. Stand up, and start walking. Every time you put your left foot down, count “One !” – out loud ! That’s your basic beat right there. Probably, after a while, a little voice in your brain will count “Two” each time you put your right foot down. So now, you have 2 beats per measure ! The first beat (the basic beat) is called the downbeat, and it’s a little bit more accentuated than the 2nd beat, which is called the upbeat.

Okay, here’s another exercise. While you’re walking, start singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. Notice on what syllables of the song you put your left foot down, i.e. the downbeat. Once you found that, sit down, sing the song again, but this time, clap your hands on the downbeat.

If you have it right, you clap your hands on the syllable marked in red :

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Now, sing the song again, still clapping your hands on the 1st beat, but this time, also snap your fingers on the upbeat (the “2”’s in the space between the “1”’s). You should have something like this (upbeats marked in blue) :

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

And now, “le moment suprême” ! Sing the song again, but now, in the space between the clap of your hand, and the snap of your fingers, tap your foot ! That means, you add an extra 2 beats to the measure ! And yes, it takes a little motoric coordination, but after some tries you should be able to sing the song, clap your hands on the downbeat, snap your fingers on the upbeat, and tap your foot on the beats in between.

So, that means that the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” has 4 beats per measure, and that each beat is a quarter of that measure. Here are the first 4 measures in music notation :

This is the most common time in western music, and certainly in folk music, the 4/4 : 4 beats per measure, each taking up a quarter of the measure. Or in other words : each beat is a quarter note long.

As an exercise, listen to any song on the radio or your pop music collection, and you will almost always be able to count 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – etc., with each “1” falling on the downbeat of the song.

Now, because a song is in 4/4 time, does NOT mean that on every beat you must play or sing a note !
In fact, that will almost never be the case. (Okay, “Twinkle Twinkle” is one of the rare exceptions, in which on (almost) every beat there’s a note, and that’s why I used it as an example).

There are 2 reasons why there isn’t a note on a beat.

The first reason is that a previous note is still sounding. Indeed, in stead of singing or playing 4 notes in a measure, you can sing only 1 note, but let it sound throughout the 4 beats of the entire measure. Thus, you have a whole note. Or you can sing 2 notes, each lasting 2 beats of the measure. These notes are half notes.

Here it is schematically :

 

And you can even divide further, and play or sing notes between the beats ! For instance, if you count “one – a – two – a – three – a – four - a” in stead of the plain “one – two – three – four”, you have added extra notes between the 4 beats. These extra notes are half the length of a quarter note, so you have eighth notes. And if those you can divide further into 16th notes, and so on and so forth…

The second reason there isn’t a note on a beat, is simply because you don’t play or sing one ! This is called a rest, aka a space. Rests can have the same time-length as notes : whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, etc.

Let’s see an example of notes and rests of mixed lengths. Here are the first few bars of “Oh When The Saints…” :

You notice that the first 3 notes don’t fill a complete measure of 4 beats. These notes are called “pick up” notes, and the first incomplete measure is the “pick up” measure. That happens a lot !
The other measures however have a combination of notes and rests that fully cover the 4 beats.

Next to the most common 4/4 time (or “meter”), there is another very important meter, which is the 3/4 or waltz time.

It’s very simple : in waltz or 3/4 time, you don’t count to four, but to three : 1 – 2 – 3, 1 – 2 – 3, etc. The “1” is still the downbeat, and gets a bit more emphasis than the 2 other upbeats. So, in a waltz, you have 3 quarter notes that take up 1 measure, like in this example of “Happy Birthday” (notice the 1st pick up measure !) :

Now we come to the final question : what is rhythm ?

Well, with all the information above we are able to define that. The first thing that is needed for a rhythm is a meter : 4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4 or even more exotic meters like 5/4 or 7/8…

But that’s not enough.

The next thing that is important for a rhythm is the distribution of notes and rests. Let’s say for instance that in the following notation, the C stands for a kick on the bass-drum (or you foot stomping on the floor), and the A for a stroke on the snare drum (or a clap in the hands). This is a 2-measure rhythm a drummer could play :

(Of course, drummers have their own kind of tab, in which each drum and cymbal has its own symbol.)

The important thing to notice here is that the rhythm is composed of a pattern of notes and rests. The length of the notes and rests can vary : half notes and rests, quarter, eights, sixteenths, etc. Or any combination of them. In short : there’s no limit on the amount of possible rhythms.

Moreover, and that’s just as important, not only the length of the notes and rests are important, but also if they are accentuated or not ! As we’ve seen, normally the downbeats are more or less accentuated, and the upbeats are a bit lighter. But in a rhythm, it can be interesting to play a bit with those rules, like in this reggae rhythm :

Here you see that the downbeat does not get any note at all, and the 3rd beat gets a heavy bass-kick, which is so typical for the reggae style.

So, in short a rhythm is :

• a repetitive pattern
• of notes and rests of which the length can vary (whole, half, quarter, etc.)
• and that are accentuated or not

Let me finish this section with some advice that again I picked up from Victor L. Wooton : a rest is as important as a note ! So, don’t practice only to play the notes, also practice to play the rests !

In the next Pomodoro, we continue our exploration of scales, as we delve into the minor scales.

4 note chords and beyond

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In the previous Pomodoro, we saw how we can build chords by stacking up the root, the 3rd and the 5th note of the modes of the scale, resulting in 3 note chords. 3 note chords are mostly used in folk music and its derivatives like bluegrass.

In jazz however 4 note chords are used. You can hear it already in the swing music of the ‘20s of the previous century. But as we’ve mentioned in the previous Pomodoro, there’s also one 4-note chord used in folk music : the dominant 7th chord.

Building a 4-note chord is childishly easy : you take a 3-note chord, and you add the 7th of the mode. So, that gives in the key of C the following chords :

mode root	chord notes (1 – 3 – 5 – 7 of the mode)	chord name	indication
C	C – E – G – B	C major 7	C+7 or Cmaj7
D	D – F – A – C	D minor 7	D-7 or Dmin7
E	E – G – B – D	E minor 7	E-7 or Emin7
F	F – A – C – E	F major 7	F+7 or Fmaj7
G	G – B – D – F	G 7	G7
A	A – C – E – G	A minor 7	A-7 or Amin7
B	B – D – F – A	B half diminished	B-7b5

I left out the roman numeral notation, because in my brief big band jazz amateur guitarist career, I’ve never seen a music sheet with roman numeral notation.

As always, when you use another key, the root of the modes and the chords will change, but not their major or minor characteristic.

Some points to notice :

• The same remarks as for the 3-note chords remain : when you play a 4-note chord, notes and their octaves can be repeated. However, most 4 note chords on the guitar are played using only 4 strings (e.g. string 6 for the bass note, strings 2-3-4 for the other notes).
  Inversions are also allowed : 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 or 3 – 5 – 7 – 1 or 5 – 7 – 1 – 3 or the 3rd inversion 7 – 1 – 3 – 5.
  
• While it was ok to call the 3-note chord VII “diminished” (and leave out the “half” part), that’s not the case of for the 4-note VII chord ! Here, you HAVE to call it half diminished, because there is also a 4-note full diminished VII chord. The difference is that the half diminished VII chord has a minor 7, and a (full) diminished chord has a diminished 7. E.g. a (full) diminished B chord = B – D – F – Ab !
  If you compare this with the VII chord in the table above, you will notice that the minor 7th A has dropped to Ab. An interesting feature of this chord is that every note is separated by the exact same interval 1+1/2 step, so it can repeated upwards or downwards : B – D – F – Ab – B – D – F – Ab – etc.  ! It’s the only chord for which this is the case.
  Without going further into detail, I can tell you that you find the (full) diminished chord when you build chords based on the minor scale. If you want to try out for yourself, don’t forget to use the minor harmonic scale, as mentioned in Pomodoro 8. I assure you : you will find some exotic chords there !
  
• A neat trick if you want to become a (big band) jazz guitarist : since the piano and/or the bass will play the root and the 5th of the chord, you don’t need to play them. So, you can stick to the 3rd and the 7th’s of the chord. They happen to be the most characteristic notes of the chord, so it’s great if you can let them shine on the guitar. Now, the trick : you can play the 3rd and 7ths of ALL THE CHORDS (major, minor and diminished) in ALL THE KEYS, only using strings 3 and 4 (the strings in the middle) !
  

A chord that is worth exploring a bit more is the V-chord, also known as the “dominant 7”.

First, the word “dominant”. In the diatonic scale, each note has a function. I don’t quite know the purpose of these names, but here they are in a table :

note in scale	function name
1	root or tonic
2	supertonic
3	mediant
4	subdominant
5	dominant
6	submediant
7	leading tone (leads to root)

The two most important are the root (1st note) and the dominant (5th note).  It’s called the dominant, because if you play the dominant 7, it’s like it is “demanding” to be resolved to the root chord.
E.g., in the key of C, when you play G7 (dominant 7), the chord “demands” as it were to be solved to C, the root chord. It’s this “demanding” characteristic that makes the V chord dominant.

In blues, very often all the chords are played with a “dropped 7” (the difference between a Gmaj7 and a G7 is indeed a dropped 7). A blues in E for instance is very often played as : E7 – A7 – B7.

The last point to discuss is the question : what after adding the 7th note to the chord ? Indeed, in jazz, chords don’t stop on the 7th note. Many a times, more notes are added : 9ths, 13ths, and all sorts of augmented and lowered notes.
They are called “ornaments” because they don’t really change the general “mood” of the chord, they just add color to it.
Some well known chord ornaments are

• the 6/9 that you can play whenever you play maj7. E.g. if you play Cmaj7, you can play C6/9.
• the 13th that you can play together with or instead of the dominant 7. So in stead of G7, you can play G13. (13 is the 6 above the octave of the root).

In extreme situations (free jazz), the entire chromatic scale is used as chord ornaments. But then as Charles Ives said, you have to take your dissonance like a man ! I don’t know about you, but I am certainly not there yet !

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This concludes this series of Basic Music Theory in 11 Pomodoros.

The last thing I want to say is that, for me Basic Music Theory can be compared to a CV of a person. This CV (if honestly written) will tell you a great deal about the facts and figures, but you won’t really know who that person is : what is her/his personality ? To really know that person, you have to meet her/him in person.

It’s the same with Music. You can read all the music theory books you want, it still while singing or playing an instrument that you get to see a tip of the veil of the mystery that Music is. A mystery that is worthwhile to explore and discover for a lifetime !

I wish you all a happy continuation of your exploration adventure !

3 note chords

Click here for the general overview

In the previous Pomodoro, we got to know the modes of the diatonic scale. In this Pomodoro, we will see that they are very handy in explaining chords.

A chord (or harmony) is nothing else than 2 or more notes sounding together. That can be pleasing to the ear, in which case it’s a consonant harmony, or not so pleasing in a dissonant harmony. You could think that “pleasing” or “not pleasing” would be totally a matter of personal taste, but there are studies that indicate the physiological nature of harmony (see this video).

In western folk music and bluegrass, we mostly talk about 3-note chords, with one 1 big exception which is the dominant 7th chord, that has 4 notes. But more of that later.

First, let us establish what a 3-note chord is. A 3-note chord is constructed by the root, the 3rd and the 5th of the mode. That’s it. No more, no less.

Indeed, each mode in a key has it’s own chord. But in stead of naming the mode, we indicate the chord with a symbol, or with a roman numeral. So, in the key of C for example these are the chords :

mode root	chord notes (1 – 3 – 5 of the mode)	chord name	indication	roman numeral
C	C – E – G	C (major)	C	I
D	D – F – A	D minor	D- or Dmin	II
E	E – G – B	E minor	E- or Emin	III
F	F – A – C	F (major)	F	IV
G	G – B – D	G (major)	G	V
A	A – C – E	A minor	A- or Amin	VI
B	B – D – F	B (half) diminished	Bdim or B-b5	VII

I suggest you play these chords, while someone else plays the notes in the key of C. You’ll hear how they match wonderfully together !

Probably there are some questions bubbling up. But before we address them, let’s take another example : the key of G (that has F#) :

mode root	chord notes (1 – 3 – 5 of the mode)	chord name	indication	roman numeral
G	G – B – D	G (major)	G	I
A	A – C – E	A minor	A- or Amin	II
B	B – D – F#	B minor	B- or Bmin	III
C	C – E – G	C (major)	C	IV
D	D – F# – A	D (major)	D	V
E	E – G – B	E minor	E- or Emin	VI
F#	F# – A – C	F# (half) diminished	F#dim or F#-b5	VII

Of course, you could continue building your own table for any key, but let’s stop for a while, because it seems we have a lot to talk about !

First, there’s a small point to notice : in the column of the chord names, you’ll see parts between parenthesis. That means that if you call that chord name, you can leave that part out. In fact, it is preferred NOT to mention it. So, you say “play G” for instance, and not “play G major”, or “F# diminished” and not “F# half diminished”. These parts between parenthesis are only there for clarification of the chord. (We’ll see later what diminished is).

Now, let’s have another look at the tables. We notice that, just as the modes were major or minor, so are the chords : there are major and minor chords. That’s quite logical, since the chords are built upon the modes, and they include the all important 3rd.

This means that the chords are major or minor by position. What I mean is that in any key :

• chord I which is built on the Ionian mode is always major
• chord II which is built on the Dorian mode is always minor
• chord III which is built on the Phrygian mode is always minor
• etc.

That’s why some music sheets don’t show chords, but roman numbers. That means you can play in any key and you just apply the appropriate chord number, according to the system above. The only thing you have to know is in what key the song is played at that moment.

Secondly, the vast majority of songs will not include all 7 chords belonging to the key. In fact, most bluegrass songs only contain 3 chords : I – IV – V. They happen to be the only 3 major chords ! Some bluegrass and old time songs have only 2 chords : I – V !

On the other hand, there are also a lot of songs that include chords NOT belonging to the system above. E.g. “Salty Dog” in G contains a E (major) in stead of E minor ! There can be a lot of reasons for these “out of key” chords, but that would bring us too far to explain (besides the fact that I don’t always know why !)

But in general, the system above can serve as a useful tool when you are searching for the chords of a song you don’t know. Most of the time, you’ll find the answer there !

Some other points to mention :

• a full guitar chord has 6 notes (one for each string), and a 3-note chord only 3, how’s that possible ?
  Well, yes, when you play a full G-chord on your guitar, you’ll hear 6 pitches, but only 3 notes. If you analyze the chord, you’ll play :
  • 6th string : G
  • 5th string : B
  • 4th string : D
  • 3rd string : G
  • 2nd string : B
  • 1st string : G

You see : only the 3 notes of a regular G-chord. Go ahead, and try to find what notes do you play on the regular C, D and A chords. It will always be the 3 notes of the chord. So yes, it is allowed to play the same note (or its octaves) more than once in a chord.

• Inversions : just as you can play a note more than once in the chord, you can also inverse the order in which they appear. The normal order is 1 – 3 – 5 (as in the G-chord above), but you can also play the first inversion : 3 – 5 – 1 (B – D – G) or the second inversion 5 – 1 – 3 (D – G – B). They’re all the same chord.
  
• As you have noticed, a minor chord is indicated by the name of the chord, followed by a minus-sign “-“ or the abbreviation “min”. A (half) diminished is indicated by the abbreviation “dim”. And that brings us to the question : what is a diminished mode or chord ?
  The answer is simple : not only this mode or chord is minor, but also it has a dropped (or diminished) 5th note.
  Let me explain. Chords I to VI all have what is called a “perfect fifth” : from the root to the 5th is always 3+1/2 steps, even for minor chords.
  
  But for only chord VII that is not the case : it has only 3 steps from the root to the 5th, which is called a diminished 5th.
  
  E.g. the diminished chord Bdim (B – D – F) : 1/2 step from B to C, 1 step from C to D, 1 step from D to E, 1/2 step from E to F = 3 steps.

The diminished chord is a great “passing” chord to go back to the root of the song. So if you play a bluegrass song, and you have a passage where you go from chord V to I, try fitting in the diminished chord VII just before you play the I. It won’t always work, but when it does, it will sound richer.

Mind you, a diminished chord on the guitar is not easy to take on all 6 strings ! I only use the upper or the lower 4 strings.

By playing the diminished VII chord, you substituted the “dominant” chord V chords. The dominant V chord is played a lot of times with a 7th note. That makes it a 4-note chord ! Let’s talk about that in the next Pomodoro !