Identifying Eighth Note Rhythms
There is a simple system for identifying any note’s position in a bar by naming notes off the beat according to which beat they come directly after. The system works as follows: within a bar of continuous eighth notes in * time, there are eight possible places where notes could occur.
The first beat is called one (1), the next eighth note is called the "and of one", then comes beat two, the next eighth note is called the "and of two", then beat three, followed by the "and of three", then beat four, followed by the "and of four" which is the final eighth note in the bar. These positions are shown in the following notation.
This system is particularly useful if you are having trouble with the timing of a rhythm. You simply identify where the notes occur in relation to each beat and then count them slowly until you have memorized the rhythm. Here is how the system can be used to analyze rhythms.
In the right hand part of the following example, the chords are played on 2, the + of 3 and the + of 4 in the first bar, and the last note in the bar is tied to a whole note which is held for the length of the second bar. The whole rhythm then repeats every two bars.
Try analyzing the left hand part in this manner and write the count between the staves if necessary. Use this method every time you have trouble with a rhythm.
