Rhythm - Time Value
- minim - crotchet - quaver -
Have you ever wonder why music makes you tap your feet or nod your head? We're breaking down three essential rhythms today: minim, crotchet, and quaver.
Let’s get into it and see how each one plays a part in making music come to life!
Rhythm is a general term used to describe the motion of music in time. The fundamental unit of rhythm is the pulse or beat. Even persons untrained in music generally sense the pulse and may respond by tapping a foot or clapping. All notes have a duration in time. The duration is expressed as a fractions or multiples of a beat, rather than as a duration in seconds.
When soldiers march behind a band, their steps are very even and steady. The music helps them stay together, and usually the large drum is played at the same time as each step. This shows that the music has a regular beat, also called a pulse, and the soldiers are moving in time with it.
- This most often used sign beat " ♩ " called a crotchet. (It's like a marching soldiers’ footsteps)
- But if it were to be struck only with every second footstep (e.g. with every left foot), the sign " 𝅗𝅥 " would be needed called minim.
- But the small drum in the marching soldiers’ band might be played with more drum-strokes than their footsteps: e.g. two equal strokes to every footstep. In this case, each drum-stroke would be shown by a sign " ♪ " called a quaver.
In music, one beat is usually shown by the symbol ♩, which is known as a crotchet. The repeated sound of the soldiers’ footsteps—left, right, left, right—can therefore be written as ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩. If the big drum is hit on every step, its rhythm would be written in the same way. However, if the drum is only played on every second step, such as each left foot, a different symbol is used. This symbol is 𝅗𝅥 with hollow in the middle (a minim). The crotchets for the footsteps and the minims for the drum beats can be written together to show how they match in time.
big drum 𝅗𝅥 𝅗𝅥
footsteps ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩
A smaller drum in the band may play more frequently than the footsteps, such as making two even drum hits for each step taken by the soldiers. In this situation, each drum hit would be written using the symbol called a quaver (♪). The rhythms of the soldiers’ footsteps, the large drum, and the small drum could then all be written together to show how they fit in time.
big drum 𝅗𝅥 𝅗𝅥
footsteps ♩ ♩ ♩ ♩
small drum ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
A minim lasts for two crotchet beats. A quaver lasts for half a crotchet beat.
( minim 𝅗𝅥
crotchet ♩
quaver ♪ )
Let's try these out by mixing them in with my composition
This is the instrumental version of the piece I wrote in this diary. The vocal version will be composed soon and released here again shortly.
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