Getting Rhythm

Rhythm makes up one third of the three most important elements in music. The other two are melody and harmony. It's important to discuss a little about what rhythm actually means. 

Rhythm is most often recognized as the main beat of a song. Some people listen to different aspects of music. For example someone might hear the bass in a song, or someone might only hear the guitar. If there is a singer, then that's usually what most people will hear first. Because I am a pianist, when I listen to music I hear the piano. Some people like to listen to the beat or the rhythm of any song.  

When you dance to music you'll be dancing to the beat of the song even if you don’t know it.

The rhythm of music is the beat behind the music that you might not always immediately notice - however - this is what drives you to move your body or tap your foot when you listen to a song. 

The instruments that are used to make the beat and create rhythm are called percussion instruments.  There is actually a huge variety of these instruments but the most common of all percussion instruments is the drum kit.  The drum kit is used most often in popular music but you can see it everywhere.  When someone is studying rhythm they usually start on a drum kit and from there they might specialize.

There are different types of rhythm. You sometimes may hear someone talking about Western rhythms and Eastern rhythms. What they are talking about has to do with the kind of percussion instruments that are being used and the kinds of rhythmical patterns.  

Rhythmical patterns refer to the way a beat is played and what kind of variation might occur in the beat. Where the instruments and rhythmical pattern originate from is usually what defines a rhythm in this context.  

Western rhythms are usually American or European and Eastern rhythms are usually Middle Eastern or Asian. African rhythms are often talked about also and like the others African rhythms have unique aspects to it. 

Learning rhythm is very important and when it comes to playing in a band situation or anytime you're playing with other musician's rhythm become especially critical. This is because when everyone's playing together the instruments won't match up and the music won't sound good if everyone doesn't play the same rhythm. 

So as pianists it's important to learn some of the principles of rhythm and learn to play in time and play along to a beat.  A piano uses rhythm as well as harmony and melody. In this respect the piano is quite unique. 

Many instruments are usually confined to only one or two of these aspects.  Learning to play the piano is not a small undertaking.  Factor rhythm into to your practice and think about beat that would go behind what you are playing.  Imagine a drummer playing along with you keeping time and helping with the rhythm of the song. This will go a long way to improving your playing.

About the Author

Graham is known as ‘The Music Guru’. Graham has spent his whole life in music. He has played various musical instruments to a very high standard, learnt to build pianos form scratch and tuned pianos professionally. He loves to share with everyone his experiences and immense knowledge of music. Graham hopes that the above music article will help people save money and also make the best decisions for their life. Graham currently writes for http://www.soundsmusical.com. If you have any questions you would like to ask please email: grahamhoward@ukpianos.co.uk.

Read more General Music Articles

Browse
Piano Articles
Guitar Articles
Drum Articles
Musical Instrument Articles
Violin Articles

Submit an article here