Music · Lesson 2

Simple and compound time, grouping, barring, anacrusis, syncopation, triplets, African rhythm

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: JAMB Music Section A 3 (time signatures simple and compound; correct grouping of notes; barring unbarred passages) and Section C 1(c)(iii) (metric and non-metric rhythm, polymetre, cross-rhythm, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(e) Time signatures: simple and compound; Aural test (a) rhythmic dictation; African music characteristics (rhythm).

WAEC: JAMB Music Section A 3 (time signatures simple and compound; correct grouping of notes; barring unbarred passages) and Section C 1(c)(iii) (metric and non-metric rhythm, polymetre, cross-rhythm, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(e) Time signatures: simple and compound; Aural test (a) rhythmic dictation; African music characteristics (rhythm).

NECO: JAMB Music Section A 3 (time signatures simple and compound; correct grouping of notes; barring unbarred passages) and Section C 1(c)(iii) (metric and non-metric rhythm, polymetre, cross-rhythm, syncopation, hemiola, polyrhythm). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(A)(e) Time signatures: simple and compound; Aural test (a) rhythmic dictation; African music characteristics (rhythm).

What you will learn

Explain beat, rhythm, tempo, metre and time signature.
Classify time signatures as simple or compound, duple, triple or quadruple.
Group notes and rests correctly in simple and compound time.
Insert bar lines and identify time signatures in unbarred passages.
Use anacrusis, syncopation, triplets and duplets correctly.
Describe the rhythmic organisation of African music.
Convert passages between simple and compound time.

Key points

Beat: steady pulse; rhythm: pattern of durations; tempo: speed; metre: grouping.
Simple: top 2/3/4, beat splits in 2.
Compound: top 6/9/12, divide by 3 for beats; beat is dotted and splits in 3.
Duple/triple/quadruple: 2/3/4 beats per bar.
C = 4/4; cut C = 2/2.
6/8 = 2 dotted crotchets; 3/4 = 3 crotchets.
Beam by the beat; show the middle of 4/4.
Anacrusis + final bar = one full bar.
Triplet: 3 in the time of 2; duplet: 2 in the time of 3.
Syncopation stresses weak beats.
African rhythm: time line, polyrhythm, hemiola, free rhythm.
Convert simple to compound by dotting each beat.

Start here: Beat, rhythm, tempo and metre

Clap along to a fuji or juju record and your hands find a steady pulse without being told. That pulse is the beat. Rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds laid over the beat: the words of a song, the strokes of a drum. Tempo is the speed of the beat, and metre is the way beats group into a regular pattern of strong and weak: strong–weak (duple), strong–weak–weak (triple) or strong–weak–medium–weak (quadruple).

Western notation shows metre with bar lines, vertical lines that divide the music into equal bars (American: measures). The first beat after a bar line is normally the strongest. A double bar (two thin lines) marks the end of a section; a thin-thick double bar marks the end of the piece. Repeat signs are double bars with two dots facing the music to be repeated.

Tempo is shown by Italian words (unit mu8) or by a metronome mark: ♩ = 120 means 120 crotchet beats a minute, two per second. A metronome is a device that clicks at a set speed; most phones now have free metronome apps, and using one is the single best way to improve rhythm for the WAEC performance test.

The time signature

A time signature is two numbers written once, after the clef and key signature. It is not a fraction (no line is drawn between the numbers). In simple time, the top number gives the number of beats in a bar and the bottom number gives the kind of note that gets one beat: 2 = minim, 4 = crotchet, 8 = quaver, 16 = semiquaver. So 3/4 means three crotchet beats per bar and 2/2 means two minim beats per bar.

Worked example: Reading a metronome mark. A choir director marks a Christmas carol ♩ = 72. Is that faster or slower than one beat per second, and how many beats are in a 2-minute performance?
Solution. One beat per second is ♩ = 60, so 72 is slightly faster. In 2 minutes there are 2 × 72 = 144 beats.

Strong and weak beats. In duple time the pattern is STRONG–weak; in triple, STRONG–weak–weak; in quadruple, STRONG–weak–medium–weak, with a secondary accent on beat 3. Composers place important words and chord changes on strong beats, which is why the stress of words matters when setting a text (unit mu7).

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Practice questions

1. 6/8 is

compound duple
simple duple
compound triple
simple triple

Show answer

A: compound duple
Two dotted-crotchet beats per bar.

2. 3/4 is

compound triple
simple duple
compound duple
simple triple

Show answer

D: simple triple
Three crotchet beats per bar.

3. 12/8 has how many beats per bar?

Show answer

C: 4
12 quavers ÷ 3 = 4 dotted-crotchet beats.

4. The beat note in 9/8 is a

dotted minim
dotted crotchet
quaver
crotchet

Show answer

B: dotted crotchet
Compound time: three quavers form each dotted-crotchet beat.

5. Common time (C) means

Show answer

A: 4/4
C = 4/4; cut C = 2/2.

Key words

Beat (pulse): Steady recurring unit of musical time.
Metre: Grouping of beats into strong and weak.
Bar (measure): Unit between two bar lines.
Time signature: Two numbers showing beats per bar and beat note.
Simple time: Beat divides into two.
Compound time: Dotted beat divides into three.
Common time: C, equal to 4/4.
Alla breve: Cut C, equal to 2/2.
Anacrusis: Upbeat note(s) before the first strong beat.
Syncopation: Accent on a weak beat or off the beat.
Hemiola: Three groups of two heard against two groups of three.
Triplet: Three notes in the time of two.

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