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rhythm

January 24, 2022 By Aron Bernstein 7 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 1/24/22

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:

Below is the Kyrie from the Missa Prolationum, a mass by Renaissance composer Johannes Ockeghem. These are just two of the parts, but it’s enough to see what rhythmic principle Ockeghem based the piece on. What do you notice about the parts, and what’s the name of this compositional method?

Check back on Friday, January 28th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 1/24/22

This is a mensuration canon, also called a prolation canon. As in an ordinary canon, both voices pictured above have the same melody, but the bottom voice’s note values are one and a half times longer than those of the top voice. The result is that the bottom melody is really in 3/4, and “stretches away” from the top melody as time goes on. It’s a very tricky type of canon to write well.

But wait! Why have just one mensuration canon at a time when you can have two! The Missa Prolationem is a truly astounding setting of the Ordinary of the Mass because it’s based entirely on double prolation canons. In the original manuscript below, each page features a different melody. You can see the mensuration signs circled in red, which were archaic time signatures in the late Medieval period and Renaissance. Notice that each page has TWO of these signs, which means that each melody is to be sung by two voices, each with a different time signature. The melody on the left page is sung by one voice in simple triple meter, and another in simple duple. Not complex enough yet? At the same time that this is going on, a third voice sings a different melody on the other page in compound triple meter, and a fourth voice sings it in compound duple. So it’s really one mensuration canon in counterpoint with another! For the modern rendition I pictured above, I only showed what was happening on the first page.

Kyrie from the Missa Prolationem by Johannes Ockeghem, ca. 1475

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!

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, mass, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, ockeghem, popmusic, renaissance, rhythm, sacredmusic

January 3, 2022 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 1/3/22

First Challenge of the New Year!

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:

Below is a nightmare of improperly beamed notes. Re-beam these rhythms to show the beat in 12/8 time, and add barlines when needed:

Weekly Music Theory Challenge

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Check back on Friday, January 7th to see if you’re right!

Dogan’s Answer:

Jof’s Answer:

Katrina’s Answer:

ANSWER for 1/3/22

12/8, like all compound meter time signatures, has misled generations of musicians and students. It’s actually quadruple meter, four beats per measure, with each dotted quarter note beat divided into three eighth notes. The top number in the time signature should say 4, but there’s no number that will convey a dotted quarter note as the beat unit for the bottom number. As a result, compound meter time signatures show the division of the beat, rather than the beat unit. But take heart: just think this the next time you see 12/8:

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!

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, compoundmeter, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, rhythm

November 29, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 1 Comment

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 11/29/21

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 this symphonic excerpt (I’ll tell you which symphony on Friday…don’t give it away if you already know!). What meter is this passage in?Hint: the fast notes in the clarinet are eighth notes.

Listen to Audio

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, December 3rd to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 11/29/21

The meter of this theme is 9/4, compound triple meter. It’s from the first movement of the Third Symphony by Johannes Brahms. Each measure has three beats, and the dotted half note is the beat unit. Being an example of compound meter, each beat is divided in three; each dotted-half note beat is divided into three quarter notes.

What makes the meter hard to identify by hearing is that this theme is a compact, rapidly unfolding set of variations. Bars 2 through 4 are elaborations of bar 1, and each one ends unexpectedly, sometimes on the downbeat of the next measure, sometimes before the downbeat. The result is a metric ambiguity typical of Brahms, a playful tap dance around the barlines.

Brahms, Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, 1st Movement

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!

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: #meter, #symphony, breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, rhythm

November 8, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 3 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 11/8/21

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 end of the Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79, No. 2, by Johannes Brahms. What starts happening to the rhythms halfway through the third measure, and what’s the effect? Listen to the audio too:

Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79, No. 2 by Johannes Brahms
Listen to Audio

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, November 12th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 11/8/21

Why simply write “ritardando” when you can build it into the music?! Starting halfway through the third measure, Brahms begins augmenting the rhythms, stretching things out from triplet eighths to normal eighths, then to triplet quarters in measure 5, and and finally to normal quarters in measure 6. This creates the effect of slowing down even though the tempo remains the same. A neat little trick if simple isn’t your cup of tea.

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!

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: brahms, breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, rhythm

October 25, 2021 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!

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, carol, christmas, classicalmusic, meter, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, rhythm, tempo

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