Lesson 4: Eighth Notes
Overview: This video covers Eighth Notes, the parts of the note - notehead, stem, flag and beam; and the concept of Subdivision.
Assignment: Joel Rothman's Teaching Rhythm, pages 7 - 11 : Get The Book (paid link)
You can also get a metronome here: Get the Metronome (paid link)
Today's lesson is about 8th Notes, the first new rhythm that decreases duration shorter than a quarter note. If you remember back to the very first few lessons, I talked about how the staff is split up into measures which are dictated by the time signature. I focused on three time signatures that have a quarter note pulse - 4/4, 3/4, and 5/4. Every note type you've learned so far doubled the length of the note. You started with quarter notes, which are one beat, then added half notes, which are two beats. Then you doubled that into the whole note, which is four beats. Each of these note durations took up entire beats.
8th notes are half the duration of quarter notes (Fig. 1). That means there are two 8th notes for every beat. In a measure of 4/4 time, you can have up to eight 8th notes.
Fig. 1 - Eighth Notes and Quarter Notes Source: Teaching Rhythm, Joel Rothman (c) 1967 Joel Rothman
Let’s take a moment to talk about the parts of the note (Fig. 2). Whole notes are made up a single, empty note head. Half notes use the same empty note head, but also include a stem. Quarter notes have a solid note head and stem.
The 8th notes can be written a few different ways. The first way is a single 8th note. The symbol for that is a solid note head with a stem and a flag. Remember you'll need two of them to equal a beat in 4/4 time.
You can also write them with what is known as a beam. The beam is a dark line that joins two 8th notes together and actually makes it a little bit easier to see the full beat at a glance. You can see beamed 8th notes in Fig. 1 as well.
Composers can also simplify the music by beaming together three or more eighth notes. Fig. 2 shows four 8th notes beamed together. That makes it easy to see that you have two beats of 8ths. The composer is going to make decisions about how to write the music based on making it easier for you to understand how they want you to perform it.
Fig.2 - Parts of the Note Source: www.ChristianJohnsonDrums.com
It's very important to remember that no matter what combinations of rhythms you use, each measure must match the duration that is set in the time signature.
When I was teaching the concept of 8ths to my student recently, it was interesting to see him have this epiphany. He said "oh! the 8th notes happen before the metronome click." What he was probably hearing for the first time was how the 8th note fits directly in the center of the beat between quarter notes.
Up to this point, you've been using your metronome to click quarter notes. If you watch in my video, I demonstrate with the metronome how the quarter note beat stays exactly the same when you play 8th notes. In fact, when you are counting 8th notes like this, "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and", the numbers still line up with the beat. You can practice staying in time by counting quarter notes and then 8th notes with your metronome. You will always say the number with the click.
This technique, when you count a smaller note duration than what you are playing, is called Subdividing. The smaller value notes themselves can be referred to as Subdivisions. I will start using the terms "subdivide" or I will say "to count the subdivisions" starting now and continuing on into future lessons. This means to count the smallest rhythm in each measure even though you are playing a longer duration.
For example, when you played half notes, you kept counting quarter notes. Quarter notes are a subdivision of half notes, and they helped you stay in time. Now you can count 8th notes, but play quarter notes. This gives you more of a reference point when playing music and the result is that your timing gets better. The count is written out for you in Joel Rothman’s Teaching Rhythm. Notice how the “and” is still counted even though you are playing quarter notes (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3 - More Eighth Notes Source: Teaching Rhythm, Joel Rothman (c) 1967 Joel Rothman
It makes you focus on the beat and what people refer to as the "placement" of the subdivision. I highly recommend that you get used to counting your subdivisions out loud. Later on you can internalize the count, but for now, it will be very important to say the count out loud.
It's very common for people to see more complex rhythms and think that they are “faster”. As a result, they just rush the rhythm. These rhythms are not necessarily faster. You could be playing a very slow tempo and see a complex rhythm and it's not fast yet. It's just a very specific subdivision that needs to be counted in order to be played accurately.
Teaching Rhythm pages 7 through 11 demonstrate many different placements of the eighth note. Check out my video to hear examples of these pages being played.
If you have a stand alone metronome and if you're playing right in time with it, you'll actually start to drown out the sound of the click. Don’t worry. Your metronome also has a light that flashes in time. You won't hear it anymore but the light is there to help you make sure that you're on tempo. If you need a metronome, see the link at the beginning of this lesson.
Thanks again for joining me on this journey. In the next lesson, I'll be introducing the 8th Note Rest.
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