A simple question

How would you describe simple?

I think you have described it
Or do I detect a PhD level discussion on deeper meanings
All you need to know is here ---- http://encyclopedia.thefreedic...ary.com/Music+theory

Personally I prefer to treat music the same as I do with good food & wine, just enjoy it.
Analysis & dissection tends to spoil the experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Sloop John B:
How would you describe simple?

A few sentences.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike-B:
I think you have described it
Or do I detect a PhD level discussion on deeper meanings
All you need to know is here ---- http://encyclopedia.thefreedic...ary.com/Music+theory

Personally I prefer to treat music the same as I do with good food & wine, just enjoy it.
Analysis & dissection tends to spoil the experience.

This little question is not analysis or dissection.

I eat and enjoy, but also cook.

quote:

How would you describe tempo, meter and rhythm?

In music, these three terms are interdependent. More specifically, meter and rhythm, in my view, are nearly synonymous. One does not exist without the other.

Meter / rhythm to a large degree dictates the tempo (within a tasteful range).

Your time signature dictates the meter (which is essentially where your rhythm is derived from).

The way a piece is written largely determines the tempo. For example, a piece written in 3/4 time can vary in tempo from, say, Largo (very slow) to Allegretto (a walking pace) to Presto (very fast). The same meter in all cases but your sense or perception of the rhythm will be different in every case with changes in tempo.

Sometime rhythm should be very subtle (ie. other musical concepts play a greater role) and sometimes rhythm is a the forefront (again, something else takes a backseat) and sometimes a piece demands a healthy balance of all musical concepts. This is where interpretation comes in to play

Regards,
Doug

Florestan, my wife and I had a really good time yesterday evening trying to break these three elements of time down to their fundamentals.

Here is what we came up with :

Tempo is the basic pulse of music, equally spaced pulses that can be sped up or slowed down.

Meter organizes these pulses into groups, by making some of the pulses stronger than others.

Rhythm manipulates the pulses by subdividing them or joining them. Rhythm is the most basic element of a phrase.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike-B:

Analysis & dissection tends to spoil the experience.

Only if you let it.

It can also greatly enrich the experience ... if you let it.

Best,
Fred

Where lives musical curiosity?

tempo = speed of the common pulse

rhythm = note length, i.e. quarter note, sixteenth note, dotted half note, etc.; also, a repeating and/or varying pattern of rhythmic note values

meter = the number of beats per measure and rhythmic value of each beat ... one measure of 6/8 meter consists of six eighth notes.

Duple meters consist of a number (divisible by two) of major groups of beats (4/4, 2/4, etc.), triple meters consist of a number (divisible by three) of major groups of beats (3/4, 9/8, etc.), and "odd" or "uneven" meters combine duple and triple (5/4, 7/8, etc.).

Although both 6/8 and 3/4 each have the same number of eighth notes, 6/8 is considered a duple meter (two groups of three eighth notes each) whereas 3/4 is a triple meter (three groups of two eighth notes each).

Fred