Area of Study 01:

Rhythm and Metre

AQA GCSE Music

Areas of Study
AoS 01: Rhythm and Metre
AoS 02: Harmony and Tonality

A0S 03: Texture and Melody

AoS 04: Dynamics and Timbre

AoS 05: Structure and Form

Rhythm and Metre

This is all about beats, timing and sound
patterns
Metre This is a regular pattern of beats in
every bar, indicated by a time signature
Rhythm is the way different lengths of sound
are combined to produce patterns in time.

Pulse
The pulse is the beat of the music. It is what
you tap your feet to.
Although the music may have rhythms made
up of different lengths of notes, the pulse or
beat will be steady.
Track 01
Listen to the start of this track
1. Tap the pulse
2. Can you describe what other rhythms are present around the pulse?

Rhythm - Back to Basics

= 4 beats
Semibreve

= 1 beat
Crotchet

= 2 beats
Minim

= beat
Quaver

or
2 Quavers

Dotted Notes
Adds half as much again to the length of the
note
= 1 beat

Add a Dot

Dotted Crotchet

Crotchet

= 2 beats
Minim

= 1 beats

Add a Dot

= 3 beats
Dotted Minim

Time Signatures
This shows us how many beats there are in a
bar
TOP NUMBER tells you how many
beats there are in a bar

BOTTOM NUMBER tells you how

long each beat is worth

Time Signatures
The bottom number

2
2

3
4

6
8

A 2 at the bottom means

each beat is worth 1 minim

A 4 at the bottom means

each beat is worth 1 crotchet

An 8 at the bottom means

each beat is worth 1 quaver

Time Signatures cont.

4x

Beats every bar

Main beat of the bar

Simple Time

Examples of Simple Time Signatures are;

2
4

3
4

4
4

Compound Time
Compound time signature have 6, 9 or 12 as their
top number
6/8 Time signature has a feeling of 2 & 3
Music in these time signatures feel as though
they have a main beat, which divide into 3.

Main Beat

Main Beat

Main Beat

Main Beat

Main Beat

Regular and Irregular

Regular Time Signatures are when the beats in
a bar can be grouped e.g.
2/4, 6/8 (2 beats per bar) DUPLE
3/4, 9/8 (3 beats per bar) TRIPLE
4/4, 12/8 (4 beats per bar) QUADRUPLE

Irregular Time Signatures are when the beats

can not be grouped as above
e.g 5/4 5 beats in a bar would have to be
grouped as a 2 and 3

Track 02

Listen to the Example:

The Time Signature is 5/4. It sounds like there is one group of 3 then one group of 2 (irregular)

Augmentation
This is where a melody or series of notes is
repeated using notes of a longer duration.
For example, a melody with the rhythm of:
Original

Notes are doubled in length

Augmentation

Diminution
This is the opposite to Augmentation.
The rhythm of the melody is half the length
Original

Diminution

Hemiola
A Hemiola rhythm has a three against two
feel.
For example, in this 3/4 rhythm there is a
hemiola in the last two bars, giving the
impression of three minim beats in the two
bars of 3/4 time.

Hemiola

Track 03

Triplet
A triplet is 3 notes all of the same length
squeezed into the time of 2 notes
Marked with a 3 above or below the middle
of the three notes

Star Wars

Track 04

Cross-Rhythms
These are when two different rhythms are
played together at the same time.
Usually conflicting against each other
Common in African Music

Polyrhythms
When two or more rhythms are played at the
same time.
The rhythms may have accents in different
places, but still feel as though they fit
together.
Lots of African music is polyrhythmic
Look at the example on the next slide.

Track 05

Polyrhythms

Bi-Rhythms
Time signatures can be split up into different
patterns of beats.
E.g. 3/4 can be divided into 3 groups of two
quavers or 2 groups of three quavers
01

02

Tempo
Tempo simply refers to the speed of the music
It can measured in 'beats per minute (bpm)
E.g.
Tempo:

= 120

120 crotchet beats every minute

The speed can also be indicated by an Italian

word

Tempo Italian words

Presto = Very fast

Vivace = Fast and lively
Allegro = Fast, quickly and bright
Moderato = Moderately
Andante = Walking pace
Adagio = Slow
Largo = Very Slow

Rubato
If this is written in the music, the performer is
able to make changes to the tempo.
In response to the way the music makes them
feel, the performer may want to slow down or
speed up.
It indicates there is no strict tempo

Drum fills
Drum fills are normally used to build the
music up, or to change between sections i.e.
verse, chorus etc
Mostly found in Popular music, like Rock, pop,
Jazz etc.

Track 06

Beatles She Loves You

Notice how a drum fill

is used to open this
pop song.
Drum fills are used to
connect different
sections too.