Rhythm Beyond Eighth Notes

When to read this: after Session 3, “Note Values by Name”, “Rests” (10 minutes); after Session 8, “Sixteenth Notes”, “2/4 Time” (10 minutes); after Session 20, “Triplets and Swing” (10 minutes); after Session 26, “6/8 Against 3/4” (10 minutes). None of this reading is part of a session’s 50 minutes.

What You’ll Learn

You read this handout in four parts, each after the session that sends you to it:

After Session 3: note values by name, and rests.
After Session 8: sixteenth notes, and 2/4.
After Session 20: triplets and swing.
After Session 26: 6/8 beside 3/4.

Every section ends with the questions for your theory cards.

This handout gives you no tempo to play at: where a pattern is played to a metronome, its figure is in its session and in its row of the week’s practice plan.

Note Values by Name

A whole note lasts four beats, a half note two beats, a quarter note one beat and an eighth note half a beat. Each has a rest of the same name and the same length, except that a whole rest fills one silent measure of any time signature.

Whole note — Four beats in 4/4 and 3/4 (a whole measure of 4/4). (Session 3)
Half note — Two beats in 4/4 and 3/4. (Session 3)

A Count row shows how long a note lasts in these two ways:

A count in round brackets, such as (2), is a count on which you play nothing new: keep counting and let the note or chord ring on.

Where no & is written after a number, the note on that number lasts until the next number.

The four note values side by side:

Name	Beats in 4/4	How a Count row shows it
Whole note	4	A note on 1 and then (2) (3) (4)
Half note	2	A note on a number and then one more number in round brackets, as in 1 (2)
Quarter note	1	One numbered count, with nothing new on its &: the & is left out or written (&), as in 3 (&)
Eighth note	Half a beat	A number with a new note or a rest on its &, or an & with a new note or a rest on the next number

Theory cards: four questions. The answer printed after each is the back of its card.

How many beats does a whole note last? Answer: Four beats (a whole measure of 4/4).
How many beats does a half note last? Answer: Two beats.
How many beats does a quarter note last, and how many an eighth note? Answer: A quarter note lasts one beat and an eighth note half a beat.
What does a count in round brackets mean? Answer: It is a count on which you play nothing new: keep counting and let the note or chord ring on.

Rests

Rest — A silence that lasts a set number of beats, or a set part of a beat. In this course you stop the strings for a rest, and its count is written in square brackets, as in [2]. (Session 3)
Whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest — A rest as long as the note it is named after: in 4/4 and 3/4, a half rest is two beats, a quarter rest one beat and an eighth rest half a beat. A whole rest is four beats in 4/4, and it also fills one silent measure of any time signature. (Session 3)

A count in square brackets, such as [4], is a rest: stop the strings on that count and keep counting. The silence lasts through every count in square brackets after it.

The beginner course wrote a rest and a held count both with round brackets; this course writes a rest in square brackets.

Rest stop — Stopping the strings with the strumming or picking hand on a rest, so that the sound ends on that count and the silence can be heard. (Session 3)

The rest stop: on the count in square brackets, lay the edge of your strumming-hand palm (the fleshy side below the little finger) flat across every string you have just played and leave it there, so that the sound stops. The pick does not touch the strings.

Copy of Session 3: the rest stop (quarter rests)

Count:  1  [2]  3  [4]
Strum:  D       D

Copy of Session 3: the rest stop (eighth rests)

Count:  1  [&]  2  [&]  3  [&]  4  [&]
Strum:  D       D       D       D

Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

On your guitar, with no metronome: strum the pattern with quarter rests on Em for four measures, saying every count aloud, the counts in square brackets too. Then strum the pattern with eighth rests on Em for four measures in the same way.

Theory cards: three questions. The answer printed after each is the back of its card.

What is a rest? Answer: A silence that lasts a set number of beats, or a set part of a beat.
How does this course write a rest in a Count row, and how does it write a held count? Answer: A rest is a count in square brackets, such as [4]. A held count is a count in round brackets.
How long does a half rest last, and how long an eighth rest? Answer: A half rest lasts two beats and an eighth rest half a beat.

Sixteenth Notes

A sixteenth note lasts a quarter of a beat: four sixteenth notes fill one beat, and two fill one eighth note.

Sixteenth note — A quarter of a beat in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4: four to a beat and two to an eighth note. (Session 8)
Quarter note — One beat in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4, and always as long as two eighth notes. It is one to a click only while the metronome clicks the beat. (Session 8)
Eighth note — Half a beat in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4, where it is two to a click while the metronome clicks the beat and one to a click with an eighth-note click. (Session 8)

1 e & a is one beat in four equal parts, the sixteenth notes. The number and the & stay where they are in eighth notes; e (say “ee”) comes between the number and the &, and a (say “uh”) comes between the & and the next number.

One measure of 4/4 in sixteenth notes:

Copy of Session 8: the plain sixteenth-note pattern

Count:  1   e   &   a   2   e   &   a   3   e   &   a   4   e   &   a
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U

In sixteenth notes your hand swings down and up twice in every beat: down on each number and on each &, up on each e and on each a.

This block is for reading here: play it in its session and in the week’s row, not from this handout.

When you first play the pattern, in Session 8 and in its week, the metronome clicks eighth notes, as the next two lines say. The two figures in the first of them are an example: the figure you play at is in the session.

Eighth-note click (the click as an eighth note) — The metronome set so that each click is one eighth note, not one beat. In 4/4 that is two clicks to a beat: for a beat of 40 BPM the metronome is set to 80. (Session 8)

Set the metronome to twice the tempo, so that it clicks eighth notes. Every click is a downstroke, on a number or on an &; every upstroke falls between two clicks.

Fast strumming: if your strumming hand or forearm aches, that is tension. Stop playing for today, and next time loosen your grip on the pick.

The three note values side by side:

Name	How many fill one beat	Count
Quarter note	1	1
Eighth note	2	1 &
Sixteenth note	4	1 e & a

On your guitar, with no metronome: say the Count row of the pattern’s block aloud for four measures, while your strumming hand swings in the air and touches no string. The line under the block that begins “This block is for reading here” says where the pattern itself is played.

Theory cards: three questions. The answer printed after each is the back of its card.

How long does a sixteenth note last, and how many fill one beat? Answer: A quarter of a beat: four sixteenth notes fill one beat.
How are the four sixteenth notes of one beat counted? Answer: 1 e & a.
What does the metronome click when it is set to twice the tempo? Answer: Eighth notes.

2/4 Time

2/4 time — A time signature with two quarter-note beats in a measure. 2/4 is counted as 4/4 is, with two beats to a measure. (Session 8)
Measure — A group of beats: four in 4/4, three in 3/4, two in 2/4. (Session 8)

Copy of Session 8: the plain sixteenth-note pattern in two measures of 2/4

Count:  1   e   &   a   2   e   &   a   |   1   e   &   a   2   e   &   a   |
Strum:  D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |   D   U   D   U   D   U   D   U   |

The two measures of the block are counted like the two halves of one measure of 4/4, with a bar line after beat 2: after the bar line the count begins again at 1.

Theory cards: one question. The answer printed after it is the back of its card.

How is 2/4 counted, and how many beats does a measure of it hold? Answer: 2/4 is counted as 4/4 is, with two beats to a measure.

Triplets and Swing

A beat can be divided into three equal parts, counted 1 trip let. Swung eighth notes are played on the first and the third of the three, on the number and on “let”, so each pair is long then short.

Triplet (eighth-note triplet) — Three equal notes in the time of one beat, counted 1 trip let. (Session 20)

Copy of Session 20: the clapped triplet count

The triplet count, clapped
Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let  |

Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let  |

Clap on every count that is written, and stay silent on a count in brackets. Say the count aloud as you clap, including the counts in brackets.

Clap three times to each click and count aloud: 1 trip let, 2 trip let, 3 trip let, 4 trip let. The clap on each number lands with the click.

Straight eighth notes — Eighth notes that divide each beat into two equal halves, counted 1 & 2 &: the eighth notes of every piece in 4/4, 3/4 or 2/4 whose tempo line does not have the word Swing. (Session 20)
Swing (swung eighth notes) — Eighth notes played long then short. In this course the first of each pair falls on the number and the second on the “let” of 1 trip let; they are written as ordinary eighth notes with the word Swing on the tempo line. (Session 20)

Swing on a tempo line means that every pair of eighth notes is played long then short: the note on the number comes on 1 of 1 trip let, and the note on the & comes on let. The Count row is still written 1 & 2 &.

In swing your hand still goes down on each number and up on each &. Only the timing changes: the & comes late.

Copy of Session 20: the swing figure

Chord:  A5
e|------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------2---------2----2---------2----2---------2----2---------2----|
A|------0---------0----0---------0----0---------0----0---------0----|
E|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Count:  1    trip let  2    trip let  3    trip let  4    trip let
Strum:  D         U    D         U    D         U    D         U
PM:     PM        PM   PM        PM   PM        PM   PM        PM

1 trip let is one beat in three equal parts, the eighth-note triplet. The words trip and let are always printed: where the row under one of them is blank, nothing is played on it.

This block is for reading here: play it in its session and in the week’s row, not from this handout.

In this course the triplet is a count you clap, not a speed you pick or strum.

On your guitar: put the guitar down and set the metronome to the figure that Session 20, “Clap the Triplet”, gives. Clap the triplet row for four measures and say its count aloud. Then clap only on each number and on each let, still saying trip, for four measures: that is swing. The line under the swing figure that begins “This block is for reading here” says where that block is played.

Theory cards: three questions. The answer printed after each is the back of its card.

Into how many equal parts does 1 trip let divide a beat? Answer: Three.
On which two of the three parts are swung eighth notes played? Answer: On the first and the third: on the number and on let.
What does the word Swing on a tempo line change, and which two things does it leave as they are? Answer: It changes the timing: every pair of eighth notes is played long then short. The Count row is still written 1 & 2 &, and your hand still goes down on each number and up on each &.

6/8 Against 3/4

A measure of 6/8 and a measure of 3/4 both hold six eighth notes. 6/8 groups them in two threes, counted 1 2 3 4 5 6 with the strong counts on 1 and 4; 3/4 groups them in three twos, counted 1 & 2 & 3 & with the beats on 1, 2 and 3.

6/8 time — A time signature with six eighth notes in a measure, in two groups of three. It is counted 1 2 3 4 5 6, one count to each eighth note, and the strong counts are 1 and 4. In 6/8 a measure has six numbered counts and two beats. (Session 26)
Eighth note (in 6/8) — In 6/8 an eighth note is one numbered count, three to a beat. (Session 26)
Time signature — Two numbers at the start of a piece. In 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4 the top number is the number of beats in a measure and the bottom number, 4, means that a quarter note is one beat. In 6/8 the top number counts eighth notes, six to a measure, and a beat is three of them. (Session 26)
Compound time — A time signature in which each beat is made of three equal notes, not two. 6/8 is one: it has two beats in a measure, each of three eighth notes, which is why the metronome can click twice a measure. 12/8, with four such beats, is another; this course names it and does not use it. (Session 26)

6/8 is counted 1 2 3 4 5 6, one count to each eighth note, in two groups of three: the strong counts are 1 and 4.

Copy of Session 26: the count with weight on counts 1 and 4

Count:  1   2   3   4   5   6
Strum:  D   d   d   D   d   d
Accent: >           >

D = strong downstroke on counts 1 and 4, d = softer downstroke, > = accent (play that strum louder)

The waltz strum, in 3/4:

Copy of Beginner Session 7: the waltz strum

Strum:  D   d   d
Count:  1   2   3
Accent: >

D = strong downstroke on beat 1, d = softer downstroke on beats 2 and 3, > = accent (play that strum louder)

The two times side by side:

Time	Eighth notes in a measure	How they are grouped	Count	Counts the beats fall on	Beats
6/8	Six	Two groups of three	1 2 3 4 5 6	1 and 4	Two
3/4	Six	Three groups of two	1 & 2 & 3 &	1, 2 and 3	Three

The waltz block above shows only the three beats of 3/4, one strum on each. Two measures of that waltz are the same strokes as one measure of the 6/8 block above (the count with weight on counts 1 and 4), so six even downstrokes with a loud one every three could be either time: what marks 6/8 is its strumming pattern (Session 26) and, from Session 29, a metronome that clicks twice a measure.

On your guitar, with no metronome: on Em, strum the 6/8 block above for four measures, saying its six counts aloud, 1 and 4 louder. Then play the waltz strum on Em for four measures, saying its three counts.

Theory cards: three questions. The answer printed after each is the back of its card.

How are the six eighth notes of 6/8 grouped, and how those of 3/4? Answer: 6/8 groups them in two threes; 3/4 groups them in three twos.
On which counts do the two beats of 6/8 fall? Answer: On counts 1 and 4.
How many beats has a measure of 6/8, and how many counts? Answer: Two beats and six counts.