Putting Rhythm and Notes Together

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Beginning students want to quickly sight read for rhythm and note combination on music scores. However, it takes a little time to get the pieces together to achieve this skill.

Two Approaches

There are a couple of approaches to getting this skill mastered. One is to have a mentor show you how this is done and then study the music over several weeks and get repeated instruction until it sinks in. Honestly that's probably one of the best ways to learn. Having another musician show it to you is a tried and true method of learning.

However, not all of us can afford lessons or know someone that can take the time to give this personal instruction.  For the rest of us we need to work it out in a home study situation. So you have to understand the process from a higher level to start and work the parts of the theory to get to this level.

Three Parts to Start

Let's start with three parts to learning to put rhythm and notes together to try and gain an understanding of this process.

First you need to understand the alphabet which is note names such as C and D or G. Then learn that the note is used as a symbol on a set of lines and spaces to indicate the note and tone to be played associated with these names. These are displayed on the master staff to give 4 octaves or sets of notes to work with.

The second part of the symbol is the time value, which is associated with rhythm or the beats. The time value is relative to the speed which is defined within a measure of a song, which is the time period. You get to know whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes. These are the symbols used in rhythm.

A third step is working the symbols as notes and beats together. By adding combination of notes using the symbols and the note names and patterns you begin to play your instrument by moving from note to note or chord to chord using the time values.

This is not an overnight thing it takes several weeks to learn it, actually it can take years to master it, and it is a repeated process. The more you work with it the easier it gets. You have to work on it over time.

Monthly Course

The music course and lesson plan for the full course are designed to get you through these various pieces and puts them together a little at a time through a home study version. The immersion in a straight theory course is to help you reduce the time in getting to an understanding of what you are playing and skill level.

If you are stuck on something specifically, ask a friend that has been there before. Sometimes it takes a little nudge to get you past some basic idea. Other times it takes a review process to reexamine things you've learned and connect them with what you may be learning at this point in time.

It does take effort. You are not going to just read about it and know it. You have to connect to your brain by seeing, listening, and phsyically working it. That's one of the core principals of learning that you need to adopt.

Take your time to learn the pieces then work on putting them together. Keep at it.