This comprehensive and complete online music course will teach you how to read, write and play rhythms in sheet music easily. Whether you already play piano, play guitar, sing, or are thinking of learning an instrument, you’ll learn to read music faster.
This music course is designed to teach you every detail of musical notation with regard to rhythm: how to read rhythm, how to write down rhythm and how to play rhythm.
Who this course is for:
This comprehensive and complete online music course will teach you how to read, write and play rhythms in sheet music easily. Whether you already play piano, play guitar, sing, or are thinking of learning an instrument, you’ll learn to read music faster.
This music course is designed to teach you every detail of musical notation with regard to rhythm: how to read rhythm, how to write down rhythm and how to play rhythm.
Who this course is for:
Absolute beginners (never touched an instrument or sung a note before)
Self-taught piano players and guitar players
Instrumentalists that play by ear, whether amateur or professional
Music students that have taken an online music course on piano or guitar (or other instrument)
Jazz players wanting to audition for formal music study at University level
Working musicians who want to get more gigs
The value of learning rhythm separately from melody and chords will help you read the sheet music much more easily, even if you have never read a note of music before.
Master these music skills to read and write down rhythm to discover your creative musical talent.
While there are plenty of music courses that teach the theory behind reading music, it’s hard to find an in-depth course that focuses exclusively on rhythm like this one, which is for beginners to even advanced players that play by ear.
This course is designed for all musicians that want to read sheet music and play more of the music they love.
Advanced players who play exclusively by ear and want to earn more money from their music will benefit from this course.
What you will learn:
How to read, write and play the eight basic note values
Master time signatures, even 5/4
How to use techniques to read and then feel syncopation
Read, write and play polyrhythms
The musical skills you’ll learn throughout this course:
Sight-reading
How to play in time
How to write down your musical ideas to create better songs
Independent hands (so important for learning any instrument but particularly important for piano and drum kit)
Hear a rhythm that inspires you and write it down
How to challenge yourself to play any instrument better
How to conduct and lead a musical group
How to practise and rehearse music
How to bring people together through music
How to play faster with good technique using rhythm
How to express yourself using music.
Rhythm in music is usually taught as an afterthought. If you're lucky, they'll teach you ‘that note is worth two’ or ‘that note is worth three’. You are left to work out rhythm by yourself. In this comprehensive course, we cover everything there is to know about rhythm. You’ll learn the techniques professional musicians use to read and play any rhythm in sheet music confidently. You’ll waste less time during expensive music lessons asking your instructor how to play the rhythm.
This course does a deep dive on rhythm. Reading the melody and chords of piano music and guitar music will be a breeze after taking this course, because you’ve already solved over half of the complexity of written music - rhythm.
This course touches on a range of musical genres and styles including:
Classical (eg. Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky)
Pop (eg. Beyonce, Backstreet Boys, Michael Jackson)
Metal (eg. Metallica, Fear Factory, Rammstein)
Jazz (eg. Brubeck)
Blues (Muddy Waters)
Rap (Run DMC)
This is not a dry and boring music theory course. Activities include:
Creating your own rap background (‘backing track’) using only what you can find in your kitchen (‘Kitchen Rap’)
Write short rhythms to share in a group, such as a drumming circle or to teach the kids at home
Learn your part then rehearse and perform with a symphony orchestra (playing saucepan lids. ).
Resources for you to download and keep include:
A study guide to the whole course
A guide to all the note values
A guide to the most common time signatures
A guide to dotted notes
Manuscript paper in several forms
Practice sheets for writing down music
Musical puzzle challenge
Journals to track your progress in writing and playing challenges.
What instrument, software and equipment do I need?
None. You may want to download a metronome app on your phone, but it’s not compulsory. We mainly use clapping, drumming on empty tin cans, even squeaky toys. That way you can internalise the feel of rhythm without the distraction of dealing with a musical instrument.
Who is the instructor?
I (Anne Plummer) am a musician whose entire career depends on being able to read music fluently. I wished I’d understood much earlier that there is a difference between music that is difficult to read versus music that is difficult to play. I know complexity can be with the rhythm, not the melody or chords. This course makes it easy to understand how rhythm works.
If you are unsatisfied with this course, you can ask for a full refund as there is a 30 day money back guarantee from Udemy: no questions asked.
Reading music is a skill that will allow you to discover more of the music you love. Reading rhythm will take you on an amazing musical journey. After taking this course, you’ll start playing your instrument and fly.
Thank you for checking out my course - I can’t wait to see you in class.
Enroll now to play more of the music you love and discover more music.
Kind regards,
Anne.
Welcome! We're so excited you're interested in learning to read, write and play rhythm.
Here are all the note values, from longest to shortest. This is what they look like.
Here's some musical examples of songs that use 'diminution' - shorter and shorter note values.
I use plasticine and musical examples to demonstrate the concept of the shorter note values. Then download your Guide to Rhythm Note Values in the Resources section of this lesson.
Step-by-step explanation of all the rhythm note values, using the Guide to Rhythm Note Values.
Learn both the British and American names for note values so you can communicate rhythm verbally. Neither English system is perfect!
A beat in music is not always a quarter note.
We practise together the longer note values, from crotchets/quarter notes to breves/double-whole notes.
'Call and Response' is a teaching technique for rhythm where we can have a musical conversation.
Practice with me the smaller note values right down to 64th Notes/Hemidemisemiquavers using the Call and Response technique.
Creators need to get their ideas onto paper quickly while they're fresh in their mind. This as true for poets such as rappers, as it is for composers such as Beethoven. In this lesson, you'll learn the quick way to write down rhythm, which will nevertheless be just as legible as printed sheet music.
Back in school you probably had to endure dictation sessions where you had to write down the words and sentences the teacher spoke. Now learn the music version, aural dictation. If you are inspired by music you hear, you'll need to write it down so you don't forget it. Here's how.
In this music writing exercise, challenge yourself to write down as many musical notes as possible within 10 seconds. Track your progress using the Personal Achievement Diary, available in the Resources section of this lesson.
More aural dictation practice for you.
The tie in written music connects two notes of the same pitch. Tied notes add together the duration of each note.
Dotted notes add to the duration of the note by half it's value. Download your handy guide to dotted notes in the Resources section of this lesson.
Practice reading and clapping dotted and tied notes.
Get more practice reading and clapping rhythms that use dotted or tied notes.
You are invited to solve these tricky rhythm puzzles. The Challenge and solution is available for download in the Resources section of this lesson.
Solution to the first rhythm puzzle of the challenge.
Solution to the 2nd rhythm puzzle.
Solution to the final puzzle.
Learn about tempo, beats per minute (BPM) and metronome markings (mm).
To begin improving your sense of rhythm, learn to subdivide the beat into two equal parts. Learn how to internalize the beat.
Learn a technique professional musicians use to become virtuosos. I show you how to access and use a metronome to play rhythm faster and faster.
If you are interested in personal development, here is a musical challenge for you!
First we look at how slowing down is indicated in written music, using the Double-bass sheet music for Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
Then we look at how speeding up is done in music. I take you through the Tuba part of Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg.
This case study is set in a mock corporate team meeting using Zoom. Managing remote teams can be challenging. Using music and in particular rhythm is a simple way you can use to bring people together.
Challenges you'll face playing music with other people over the internet using software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Blue Jeans, etc. I give you the solutions to overcome the limitations.
How to introduce the rhythm session with your co-workers.
Part 2 of the group rhythm session
Part 3 of our case study
How to conclude and segue back into the meeting agenda.
Use this case study to create and share your own rhythms. You have enough knowledge of rhythm to bring people together:
your children or grandchildren
your work colleagues
your friends
seniors groups
school class
Introducing the teaching methods I'll use to teach you everything you need to know about time signatures. Go ahead and download your handy Guide to Commonly-used Time Signatures in the Resources section of this lesson.
In this lesson, you'll learn the concept and function of time signatures in written music and how they work.
Together we practise completing measures in various time signatures.
Conducting music is a useful communication tool which helps you feel the music. Conducting also expresses time signatures.
Conducting and feeling two beats per measure is probably the easiest place to start.
3/4 is a common time signature with three beats per bar. Learn how to conduct and feel the music.
The vast majority of popular music is in 4/4 time signature. Learn how to conduct and feel the music in 4/4.
Feeling one beat in a bar can be dictated either by the time signature or the speed of the music.
5/4 time signature can be felt in three ways:
five beats in a bar;
two beats in a bar (one longer beat followed by one shorter beat); or
two beats in a bar (one shorter beat followed by one longer beat).
What is the difference between 12/8 and 4/4 time signatures.
How to figure out what a time signature might be by listening and referring to your Guide to Time Signatures.
Like other languages, the language of music uses grammar to make it easier to read and understand. Learn to group notes using beams to make rhythm easier to read.
Because the Double-whole note or Breve is worth 8 quarter-note or crotchet counts, it is too long for most time signatures. In most commonly-used time signatures, eight counts in music is usually written by using ties. The only time signatures that can use breves are, for example, 4/2 which uses 4 half notes or minims in each measure.
An 'anacrusis' in music is also called a 'pick-up'. It's the music that comes before the first downbeat.
We look at the following music to see if they have an anacrusis or not:
Twinkle Twinke Little Star (trad. arr. Mozart)
Tricky (Run DMC)
Happy Birthday To You (Patty and Mildred J Hill)
Trumpet Concerto in E-flat: 3rd Movement (Haydn) performed by Wynton Marsalis
New York, New York (John Kander) performed by Frank Sinatra
Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters)
Music manuscript paper contains several staves on the page. Several different versions are available to download and use if you wish.
Systems in sheet music are very common in piano music. In this lesson, we look at some extreme examples.
Knowing when not to play in music is as important as playing. In this lesson, we do a deep dive on how non-music is written down in standard musical notation. We also look at cues, which help you know when to start playing again.
In this activity, I'm asking you to count up how many bars' rest the two guitarists, Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers take during the Rammstein song 'Heirate Mich' ('Marry Me').
I talk you through the solution of the above activity
I'm being a little bit mean to my students here. I'm asking that you count 63 bars rest in Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight before coming in with that highly-syncopated drum riff. But you never know: maybe one day you'll be asked to sight-read on stage with a band this song, and you'll be ready!
You can now join the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as their Principal Cymbal Player - no audition required! In this lesson, I show you how to count your bars rest, follow the conductor Gustavo Dudamel and play your part in Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra. You might have to rehearse several times before moving onto the next lesson. I certainly had to do several 'takes' before almost getting it right!
Tune up those saucepan lids because it's time to perform 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' by Richard Strauss with one of the top orchestras and conductors in the World. Only the best for my students!
The principle I teach in this lesson is the same, whether you're reading a triplet rhythm or a group of ten notes.
Standard musical notation is great because we can use it to describe and share most music in the World. If you are a player of anything other than classical Western music, you'll need to be able to read syncopation, which is probably the most difficult to read. This entire section is devoted to helping you read music you probably can already play easily. It's worth it.
Words to describe music are inadequate on every level, but we need to start somewhere. We look up the definition of 'syncopation' in the Harvard Dictionary of Music. The definition contains many words - don't worry, in the next lesson you'll see what syncopation really means.
I interpret the dictionary meaning of 'syncopation'.
Write out difficult syncopations. While you're writing it down, your brain will be thinking and analyzing it. Trust your brain to sort out difficult rhythms for you. You've already programmed it to do so.
If the sight of those 64th notes/Hemidemisemiquavers freak you out, use this technique I call 'augmentation' to transpose the rhythm so it's easier to read.
You've learnt how ties work in music, in rhythm. Add the ties back now that you can see the underlying structure of the syncopated rhythm.
Marking off the beats in a bar can be a stand-alone technique to better understand the syncopated rhythm.
I've written down the 'clap track' from 'Deja Vu'. Deja Vu is performed by Beyonce and was written by Delisha Thomas, John Webb, Beyonce Knowles, John Webb Jr., Shawn Carter, Rodney Jerkins, Makeba Riddick and Keli Nicole Price.
In the 1950's and 60's, session musicians would add a 'clap track' to a recording. Now it's your turn to read and play through the recording of Deja Vu with me.
We pull apart and learn to read and play a familiar riff from 'Beat It' words and music by Michael Jackson.
Calling all beginner guitarists! Here is how you write down your strumming patterns. I ain't no guitarist, so maybe you can give me a lesson one day.
Beginner guitarists who play by ear easily play syncopation and don't even know it! It's all to do with strumming, where you've two actions: up and down. I show you on the guitar how you create this syncopation and how it is written down.
We go over the major techniques to deal with syncopation that you've learned in this section.
By now you can tackle just about any rhythm. That's no use to you if you can't find your way around the structure of the sheet music. This section is easy but important.
Here's the most common musical direction or 'map' sign you'll see in music - the repeat sign.
There's a trick to reading 2nd and 3rd time bars. I show you what to do so you don't get lost in the sheet music.
DC or Da Capo means go back to the beginning of the piece of music.
DC means 'go back to the beginning' while DS means 'go back to the sign'.
If you miss the Coda sign, you may get stuck and never finish the piece of music!
I take you through the standard layout of a 'Minuet and Trio' form. These classical forms are often much simpler to follow than pop sheet music.
We read through while listening to a recording of the Minuet and Trio of Mozart's Symphony No. 41.
I take you through the entire map of this march, with repeat and other signs.
Let your eyes flow along the music when you are reading sheet music. The Radetzky March is often played by orchestras in New Years Eve concerts.
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