Breaking Barlines

Online Music Theory Lessons: Turn Sound Into Skill

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By Aron Bernstein 2 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 10/25/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

This is the English carol Here We Come a-Wassailing. The refrain changes from 6/8 to 2/4, but in the original, the music is marked “dotted quarter note equals quarter note.”

Original
Listen to Audio

But what happens if we put the indication “eighth note equals eighth note” at the time signature change? What is the name of this musical device?

Altered
Listen to Audio

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, October 29th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 10/25/21

This is an example of metric modulation. If the eighth notes in 6/8 are the same speed as those in 2/4, then the beat becomes one-and-a-half times faster. So we encounter an increased tempo across the time signature change. In the original at top, the tempo remains the same because the basic pulse in 6/8 (dotted-quarter note) is equal to the basic pulse in 2/4 (quarter note). So the eighth notes are now slower, but the beat stays constant.

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, holistic, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!

By Aron Bernstein 5 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 7/26/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Here’s one of my favorite pieces by Johannes Brahms (I won’t tell you the title just yet!). Listen carefully while you watch the score:

Audio

What is the time signature for this music?

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, July 30th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 7/26/21

6.4: Yep, that’s right! This is the first movement of Brahms’s Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 78. The meter is actually 6/4, compound duple, but you wouldn’t know it by just listening to either the violin part or the piano right hand! Both parts make use of the hemiola, a cross-rhythm that gives the impression of 3/2 (simple triple). But notice how the piano’s melody is completely offset from the violin’s, sounding like its downbeat is in a different place altogether. This puts the piano melody totally at odds with the barline. To make matters even more complex, both parts are rhythmically differentiated: their notes never coincide, making them interlock. All this plays out against the actual beat, marked down at the bottom of the music:

This kind of rhythmic sophistication and metric fluidity are typical of Brahms, who had extensive knowledge of 16th Century Renaissance music. He had scores from Palestrina, Lassus, Josquin, and Isaac, whose music had no barlines, and a complexity that made each part sound like it had a different meter and downbeat.

For more Brahms banditry, CLICK HERE for a fun bonus Youtube video: totally FREE!

Want to Learn More?

Check out my whole series of videos on rhythm and meter in the Rhythm Module! Sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. Also, stay tuned for new lessons in advanced rhythms. I created Breaking Barlines with one thing in mind: making music theory effective and FUN!

By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 6/28/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Listen to the audio below and try to figure out the meter of this piece. Two hints:

  • The quarter note is the beat.
  • Despite what you might hear, there is no change of meter!
AUDIO

Need another hint? Below are two beat samples. The first gives you the actual beat for this piece. The second is what you might hear in the piece, but it’s incorrect!

Actual Beat
Incorrect Beat

If you already know this piece, don’t reveal the title or the composer yet!

Check back Friday, July 2nd for the answer!

ANSWER for 6/28/21

This was the opening of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, The “Rhenish Symphony.” The meter is 3/4, but for the first six measures it sounds like 3/2. The ties and syncopations displace the sense of the beat, making six measures of 3/4 sound like three measures of 3/2. But then, starting on measure 7, the syncopations disappear, and the sense of 3/4 finally asserts itself. It suddenly sounds like we’ve changed meter, but, in fact, we’ve been in 3/4 the whole time.

This is yet another use of the hemiola: two different ways to feel the same six beats: two groups of three, or three groups of two.

Want to Learn More?

Rhythm and meter are the life blood of music. Have a look at my video lessons in the Rhythm Module! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are added every month. I created Breaking Barlines with one thing in mind: making music theory effective and FUN!

By Aron Bernstein 2 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 5/3/21

Show off your music theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question posted here every Monday, and you can comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Below is a nightmare of improperly beamed notes. Re-beam these rhythms to show the beat in 3/4 time, and add barlines when needed.

Send Aron your answer!

Weekly Music Theory Challenge

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Then leave a comment below, and check back on Friday May 7th for the answer!

ANSWER for 5/3/21

Here is the proper way to beam these rhythms:

It’s also totally correct to do it this way, with the third measure having two tied eighth notes instead of a single quarter note:

In fact, this way shows the first and second beats more clearly. Shout out to Steve on Facebook for this answer…way to go!

The purpose of beaming is to explicitly show the beat. So we want to beam eighth and sixteenth notes within the beats, and break the beams whenever we end one beat and begin another. Kudos to Steve and Craig for your perfect re-beaming!

Want to Learn More?

I have an entire video lesson just on beaming in the Rhythm Module!  Sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. Hone and perfect your rhythm and understanding of meter!

By Aron Bernstein 2 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 4/12/21

Show off your music theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question posted here every Monday, and you can comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

What is the correct time signature for a measure with five beats and the dotted eighth note as the beat?

CHECK BACK on Friday, 4/16 for the answer!

ANSWER for 4/12/21

The correct time signature is 15/16. This is compound quintuple meter: five beats in the measure, and the dotted eighth note is the beat. The problem with compound meter, of course, is that the bottom number shows the division of the beat (the 16th notes, in this case), rather than the beat itself.

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