Counting Basics
VIDEO
Counting Rhythms
READING
The first note we are going to learn how to count will be the quarter note. A quarter note looks like this:
The oval part on the bottom is called the head of the note. The stick that is attached to the head is called the stem. The stem can go on top of the head or on the bottom.
The time signature here is 4/4. The top number tells us that there are 4 beats in the bar (measure) and the bottom number tells us that the quarter note gets the beat. So in this simple rhythm, we are just counting the quarter notes. So we would say "one-two-three-four" on a steady beat.
Now, we are going to add 8th notes. This is what an 8th note looks like:
As you can see, it looks almost exactly like a quarter note, except it has a flag hanging off of the stem.
When you have 2-8th notes on the same beat, they look like this:
When they are grouped together on the beat, the flag turns into a beam and connects the 2-8th notes. This makes it easier to read rhythms that use 8th notes.
When you count 8th notes, the note that happens on the beat gets a number, just like a quarter note. When you say the 8th notes that are off the beat, you say "and", shown here with "&". So for this example, we would say "one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and". Since 8th notes last half as long as quarter notes, this example should sound twice as fast as the quarter note example (if you are at the same tempo, or speed).
Now, we are going to add 16th notes. This is what a 16th note looks like:
As you can see, it looks almost exactly like an 8th note, except it has 2 flags hanging off of the stem instead of just 1.
When you have 4-16th notes on the same beat, they look like this:
Just like 8th notes, when 16th notes are grouped together on the beat, the flags turn into beams and connect the 4-16th notes.
When you count 16th notes, you still say the numbers on the beats where the quarter notes would go. You also say "and" on the off-beats where 8th notes would go. In between those notes, you say "e" and "a". When you say the 1st beat, it should sound like "one-ee-and-uh". So the whole thing would be "one-ee-and-uh two-ee-and-uh three-ee-and-uh four-e-and-uh". Since 16th notes last half as long as 8th notes, this example should sound twice as fast as the 8th note example (if you are at the same tempo).
This is all of the rhythms we have counted together. The quarter note = 100 sign in the top gives us our tempo, which is how fast the beat moves. In this example, there are 100 quarter notes every minute. To know what that sounds like, you can use a metronome.
When we say the whole thing, it should be:
"one-two-three-four one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and one-ee-and-uh-two-ee-and-uh-three-ee-and-uh-four-ee-and-uh"