Basics of Rhythm

Do you tap your feet unconsciously while listening to music? Have you ever noticed how the pattern and speed of tapping change with different music? All of us intuitively know what rhythm is. It is a fundamental aspect of music that we cannot separate from harmony and melody. Without rhythm, music becomes disjointed and aimless. In this free online course, Michael Emenau will teach you how to clap along while listening to rhythmic patterns, count them and write them down. This course will first introduce you to the symbols of different beats. Then you will learn how to assign them in the short sections or boxes of musical notes, also known as the ‘measure’ or ‘bar’ of music.

With syncopation, part or all of a tune or piece of music can sound off-beat. You will learn about ‘rest’, which lets a musician know how long to play a note or hold a rest. Michael introduces the basic concept of rhythm using examples and the different rhythms in music, starting from the whole note to the sixteenth. The further you advance, the more you become accustomed to clapping along while listening to simple and complex rhythms in both slow and fast tempos. 

Ear training for rhythm can hugely benefit all musicians and music fans. To appreciate a piece of music or to study and analyse a piece of music, you have to understand what rhythm is. If you are a musician, having a good ‘sense of rhythm’ is essential as it helps train your ear to create interesting rhythmic features in your music. If you know nothing about reading music, then this course is a great place to start. You will learn the basics of rhythm that you can apply to any instrument of choice or style. Also, by practising the quizzes, you’ll understand rhythm in a completely new and more powerful way. As there are no prerequisites for taking this course, jump in and take every opportunity to tap out the rhythms you learn herein. Join this course now!