Piano Rhythm and Meter

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Most people are able to picture in their mind a typical piano student playing with a small device that moves one side to another resembling a pendulum, often associated to bored learning. Such device is called metronome, invented in the 19th century by the German inventor Johann Mälzel with the purpose of measuring the tempo of a composition.

Originally, mechanic, nowadays it is easy to find electric devices that emit regular pulses, which usually are written at the beginning of sheet of music as metronome marking to let the student know the tempo of the melody to be played. Tempo is the speed of the music measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM). To give you an idea of this measure, one beat a second is the equivalent of 60 BMP

If you are serious about learning to play the piano, you will eventually need a metronome to keep the meter (beat) steady while rehearsing. Metronome marking is placed following the treble clef or bass clef noted as two numbers, the top is the number of beats in every bar and the bottom is the code each beat is measured in.

Bottom numbers are commonly 4 (crochet beats), 8 (quaver beats) and 2 (minim beats). Printed reference to identify rhythm and meter is usually found among your piano's learning material. Rhythms are indicated as a dotted value that increases a note by half as an example, a dotted quaver must last for 1 and a half quavers.

As your piano training advances to next levels, you will be able to play rhythms in compound time, bearing in mind that such learning involves deeper knowledge in music. It is up to you continue your development as a pianist or assimilate the basic concepts to play for fun or as occupational therapy as some doctors advice to people who suffer from stress and other emotional problems.

Music is a way to channeling whatever is in your inner self, from an artistic manifestation to ordinary escape valve after a busy day.