What is musical rhythm? Expressive means of music: In the beginning there was rhythm. Rhythm in versification

EXPRESSIVE MEANS OF MUSIC: RHYTHM
In the beginning there was rhythm

There is something magical about rhythm;
he makes us believe that the sublime belongs to us.
J. W. Goethe

Melody is one of the main means of musical expression. Maybe the most important thing. True, Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov believed that the most important means of expression is rhythm. You can disagree with him, but it is very easy to prove that he is right.

People pronounce words in time, sometimes speeding up their speech, sometimes slowing it down. After all, it is difficult to imagine a person speaking with extreme precision and measuredness. Such speech will quickly tire the listener, and he will poorly perceive the meaning of what was said.

You, of course, have noticed that in music sounds last differently. Some of them are short, others are longer. Let's remember the song that many of you sang: “Cockerel, cockerel, golden comb.”

You see, in it two short sounds are replaced by one long one (alternating long and short sounds).

The alternation of durations, which is always repeated in music, is called rhythm. Academician Asafiev called rhythm the pulse of a musical work. This is a very apt comparison.

Rhythm brings order to music, builds and coordinates sounds in time, that is, according to their duration. That is, rhythm is the consistency of sounds in duration. They may be different. The number of rhythmic options is infinitely large; everything here depends on the composer’s imagination. In general, no melody is possible without rhythm. No matter how perfect and simple the melody is, it cannot even be imagined without rhythm.

If there were no rhythm, there would be no melody, but only a set of sounds of different pitches would remain. Although rhythm without melody exists. Many peoples of the East have dances that are performed only to the rhythm of percussion instruments.

Rhythm is the strongest means of expression. The character of the music largely depends on it. An even rhythm makes the melody smooth and soft, an intermittent rhythm gives the melody excitement and tension, and is often used in decisive, marching music. Thanks to rhythm, we can immediately determine, even in an unfamiliar work: this is a waltz, this is a polka, this is a march, etc. Each of these genres is characterized by certain rhythmic figures that are repeated throughout the entire work.

The Greek word "rythmos" means measured flow. This term is not only musical. In our life, everything is subject to a certain rhythm.

Rhythm reveals itself everywhere in the world around us. Seasons, months, weeks, days and nights alternate rhythmically. Human breathing and heartbeat are rhythmic. Architectural structures, palaces and houses with their symmetrically located windows, columns and stucco decorations are rhythmic.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Moscow, Russia

All this suggests that rhythm is one of the fundamental principles of life: it is present in living and inanimate nature, we hear and see it - in the sound of the sea surf, in the pattern on the wings of a butterfly, in the cut of any tree, any knot.

The sense of rhythm is very highly developed among the people. Rhythm is characteristic of work when a person performs a series of monotonous movements. The songs with which people accompanied monotonous, tedious work, such as the famous “Dubinushka,” emphasize the rhythmic beginning of labor.

I. Repin. Barge haulers on the Volga

Have you ever wondered why little children fall asleep so quickly and easily to the sounds of a lullaby? Why do they immediately start dancing if you sing them some kind of musical joke? After all, the child has not yet learned anything and does not know that one should react to music in some way - move, dance, etc.

This probably happens because musical rhythm is closest to human nature and, by influencing it, is capable of causing a response. And any response is already a dialogue, a person’s communication with the outside world, the first feeling of unity with it. After all, it is so important to feel not like a lonely grain of sand lost in infinity, but a full-fledged part of the world, living and feeling the same way as you do.

That is why they sometimes say that rhythm is the original form of a person’s connection with life, with people, with his time. Rhythm reflects the connection between nature, man and his activities with the universe. The word rhythm means "measurement".

People have long sought to understand the nature of musical rhythm. The dominance of rhythm in all spheres of existence was the reason that the first and most significant ancient theory of understanding the world brought music to the forefront in the structure of the Universe. The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras imagined the world as a kind of universal musical instrument, controlled by the “music of the spheres” - sounds generated by the endless movement of the celestial spheres. At the heart of this grandiose picture of the world were four initial divine numbers (1-2-3-4), bringing order and harmony to the universe. Order, that is, truth, beauty and symmetry, was also endowed with moral qualities. The Pythagorean Philolaus wrote: “The nature of number and harmony does not accept lies... Order and symmetry are beautiful and useful, but disorder and asymmetry are ugly and harmful.”

Order and symmetry are the fundamental properties of rhythm. It is no coincidence that we find them in a wide variety of musical works - from a simple children's song to a complex instrumental theme.

Here is the well-known song “Christmas Tree” by M. Krasev. Sing it, and you will immediately feel lightness, naturalness, proportionality of RHYTHM and melody. Probably, this song is so popular because even small children easily remember and sing it.

Here's a completely different example. It is taken from the finale of L. Beethoven's piano sonata No. 17. Why do we put this example on a par with a simple children's song? After all, many people know that Beethoven’s sonatas are a most complex world with its own joys, doubts, and philosophical thoughts, that it contains a vast range of all conceivable means of musical expression.

1770 - 1827
German composer, conductor and pianist

However, despite all its complexity, Beethoven's music is precisely proof that the natural laws of rhythm operate equally in a children's song and in a piano sonata, that these laws are not subject to either the intellectual complexity or the musical courage of even such a composer as he was. Beethoven. Is this why, when listening to Beethoven, we never remain indifferent, we invariably succumb to the charm, the living thrill of the music of this greatest of musicians, who managed to combine in his work extraordinary personal will and deep reverence for the fundamental, natural properties of musical art?

Questions and tasks:
1. What is rhythm, what is its meaning in musical language?
2. Why is rhythm the basis of music? Could music exist without rhythm?
3. How can rhythm affect the character of a piece of music?
4. How can you explain the words: “Order, symmetry are the fundamental properties of rhythm.”

Presentation

Included:
1. Presentation: 13 slides, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Beethoven Sonata No. 17, III movement Allegretto, mp3;
The little Christmas tree is cold in winter (minus soundtrack), mp3;
Hey, let's whoop (performed by the male choir of the St. Petersburg Metochion of Optina Pustyn), mp3;
3. Article, docx.

MUNICIPAL BUDGET EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION "LOKOSOVSKAYA CHILDREN'S SCHOOL OF ARTS"

(MBOU DO LOKOSOVSKAYA DSHI)

METHODOLOGICAL WORK ON THEORY ON THE TOPIC:

"MUSICAL RHYTHM"

Completed by teacher: Altynshina G. R.

With. Lokosovo village 2017

PLAN

1. Introduction 3
2. Main part 4

1. Specifics of rhythm in music
2. Basic historical systems of rhythm organization
3. Classification of musical rhythm
4. Means and examples of musical rhythm

1. Conclusion
2. References 19

Introduction

Rhythm is the temporal and accentuated aspect of melody, harmony, texture, thematicity and all other elements of musical language. Rhythm, unlike other important elements of musical language - harmony, melody, belongs not only to music, but also to other types of art - poetry, dance; in which music was in syncretic unity. Existing as an independent kind of art. For poetry and dance, as for music, rhythm is one of their generic characteristics.

Music as a temporary art is unthinkable without rhythm. Through rhythm she defines her kinship with poetry and dance.

Rhythm is the musical principle in poetry and choreography. The role of rhythm is different in different national cultures, in different periods and individual styles of the centuries-old history of music.

Specifics of rhythm in music.

Rhythm belongs not only to music, but also to other forms of art - poetry and dance. Music is unthinkable without rhythm. Rhythm is the musical principle in poetry and choreography. The role of rhythm is different in different national cultures. For example, in the cultures of Africa and Latin America, rhythm comes first, but in a Russian plangent song its immediate expressiveness is absorbed by the expressiveness of pure melodies.

Rhythm in music has specificity, since it is expressed in the combination of intonations, in the relationship of harmonies, timbres, texture components, in the logic of motive-thematic syntax, in movement and architectonics of form. Therefore, we can define musical rhythm as the temporal and accentual aspects of melody, harmony, texture, thematicity and all other elements of musical language.

The relationship between rhythm and time categories was different in different historical eras, both in their practical role in music and in their theoretical interpretation. In ancient Greek metrics, the general concept of meter was general, and rhythm was understood as a particular moment - the ratio of arsis (“raising the leg”) and thesis (“lowering the leg”). Many ancient Eastern teachings also placed meter at the forefront. In the study of the European musical clock system, the phenomenon of meter was also given much attention. Rhythm was understood in its narrow meaning as the relationship of a series of sounds, that is, as a rhythmic pattern. The tempo scale acquired its current form during the formation of a mature clock system in the 17th century. Previously, indicators of movement speed were “proportions”, indicating the amount of main duration throughout a section of the work.

In the twentieth century, the relationship between rhythm and time categories changed due to a strong modification of the clock system and non-bar forms of musical rhythm. The concept of meter has lost its former inclusiveness, and the category of rhythm has come to the fore as a more general and broader phenomenon. Agogic moments were drawn into the sphere of rhythmic organization, and it spread to the architectonics of musical form. Thanks to this, the problem of organizing the entire time parameter as a new aspect of the theory of musical rhythm turned out to be relevant for the creative practice of the twentieth century.

Taking into account the specifics of music from different eras, one must adhere to two definitions of musical rhythm and meter (wide and narrow). The meaning of rhythm in a broad sense has been discussed above. Rhythm in the narrow sense is a rhythmic pattern. Meter in the broad sense of the word is a form of organization of musical rhythm based on some commensurate measure, and in the narrow sense it is a specific metric system of rhythm. Important metric systems include the ancient Greek metric and the modern clock system.

With this understanding of meter, the concepts of meter and beat turn out to be non-identical. In ancient metrics, the cell is not a beat, but a foot. The beat belongs to the metric system of European professional music of the 17th-20th centuries. A beat is capable of capturing the rhythm of many systems. Since the time structure is associated with the currently generally accepted notation, for the convenience of reading notes it is customary to translate music of any historical era into time notation. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between non-original types of rhythmic organization and correctly understand the function of the bar line, distinguishing its actual metric role from the conditionally dividing one.

Basic historical systems of rhythm organization.

In European rhythm, several systems of organization have developed that have unequal significance for the history and theory of rhythm in music. These are the three main verse rhythm systems:

1. Quantitativeness (metricity in the old meaning of the term)
2. Quality (accuracy in the literary sense)
3. Syllabicity (syllabicity).

The border between music and poetry is the system of late medieval modes (modal rhythm). Actually, the musical systems are mensural and tactometric, and among the newest forms of rhythm organization we can distinguish progressions and series.

The quantitative system (quantitative, metric) was important for the music of antiquity, during the period of syncretic unity of music - words - dance. Rhythm had the smallest measuring unit - chronos protos (primary time) or mora (interval). Larger durations were composed of this smallest one. In the ancient Greek theory of rhythm, there were five durations:

Chronos protos, brachea monosemos,

Makra disemos,

Macra Trisemos,

Macra tetrasemos,

Macra pentasemos.

The system-forming property of quantification was that rhythmic differences in it were created by the ratio of long and short, regardless of stress. The main ratio of syllables in longitude was double. Formed from long and short syllables, the feet were precise in timing and weakly susceptible to agogic deviations.

In subsequent periods of the history of music, quantity was reflected in the formation of rhythmic modes, in the preservation of the type of ancient feet as rhythmic patterns. For modern music, quantification has become one of the principles of rhythmization of verse. In Russian musical culture of the early nineteenth century, the subject of attention was the idea of ​​the presence of long-short syllables in the Russian language. Around the middle of the century, ideas about the tonic principle of Russian literature became stronger.

The qualitative system is entirely verse and verbal. It contains rhythmic differences according to the principle of not long - short, but strong - weak. Qualitative type feet have become a convenient model for comparisons with them and for determining various kinds of musical rhythm formations with their help. Soviet musicologist V.A. Tsukkerman made a systematization of the types of bar patterns, also defining their expressive meaning. However, only an analogy is valid between timed rhythmic figures and foot formulas, since timeliness and feet belong to different systems of rhythmic organization.

The syllabic system (syllabic) is also a verse system. It is based on the counting of syllables, on the equality of the number of syllables. Therefore, its main meaning is to be the rhythmic basis of verse in vocal works. The syllabic system also received musical refraction. After all, the equality of the number of sounds, like the number of syllables, forms a temporary organization, which can become the basis of a rhythmic structure. It is precisely this rhythmic form that is found among the compositional techniques of the twentieth century, especially after 1950 (an example is the 1st part of “Serenade” for clarinet, violin, double bass, percussion and piano by A. Schnittke).

Modal rhythmics, or a system of rhythmic modes, operated in the 12th-13th centuries in the schools of Notre Dame and Montpellier. It was a set of mandatory rhythmic formulas. Every author and poet-composer adhered to this system.

General system of six rhythmic modes:

1st mode

2nd mode

3rd mode

4th mode

5th mode

6th mode

All modes were united by a six-beat meter with different rhythmic filling. The cells of the modal rhythm were ordo (row, order). Single ordos were similar to a non-repeating foot, or monopodia, double ordos were similar to a double foot, dipodia, triple-tripodia, etc.:

First mode:

Single ordo

Double ordo

Triple Ordo

Quarter Ordo

Modes, like ancient feet, were endowed with a certain ethos. The first mode expressed liveliness, liveliness, and a cheerful mood. The second mode is the mood of grief, sadness. The third mode combined the ethos of the previous two – liveliness and depression. The fourth was a variation of the third. The fifth had a solemn character. The sixth was a “flowery counterpoint” to the rhythmically more independent voices.

The mensural system is a system of musical note durations. It was caused by the development of polyphony, the need to coordinate the rhythmic relationships of voices; served as a theory of polyphony before the advent of the doctrine of counterpoint.

Mensural rhythm to a certain extent was associated with modal principles. The regulating measure was the hexadeleton. His bipartite and tripartite groupings, juxtaposed simultaneously and sequentially, were typical formulas of the era of the late medieval Renaissance rhythm.

In the 13th - 16th centuries, the mensural system developed and its feature was the equality of divisions of durations into 2 and 3. Initially, only triplicity was the norm. In theological concepts, it corresponded to the trinity of God, three virtues - faith, hope, love, as well as three types of instruments - percussion, strings and wind. Therefore, division by three was considered modern (perfect). Division into two was put forward by musical practice itself and gradually gained a large place in music.

Taxonomy of the main mensural durations:

Maxima (long duplex)

Longa

Breve

Semibrevis

Minima

Fuza

Semiminima

Semifuza

To distinguish between ternary and binary divisions, verbal designations (Perfectus, imperfectus, major, minor) and graphic signs (circle, semicircle, with or without a dot inside) were used.

The characteristic mensural rhythms include the following variants of the hexagonal rhythm, which were used in sequence and simultaneously:

The grouping of six lobes into 3 and 2 reflects the two-basicity of the rhythmic proportions of the mensural system and the characteristic proportion of the hemiola or sesquialtera.

The tactometric or clock system is the most important system of rhythmic organization in music. The name “tactuc” originally denoted a visible or audible blow of the conductor’s hand or foot, a touch on the console, and implied a double movement: up - down or down - up.

A beat is a length of musical time from one beat to another, limited by beat lines and evenly divided into beats: 2-3 in a simple beat, 4,6,9,12 in a complex beat, 5,7,11, etc. d. - mixed.

Meter is an organization of rhythm based on the uniform alternation of time segments, the uniform sequence of beats of a bar, and the difference between stressed and unstressed beats.

The difference between strong and weak beats is created by musical means - harmony, melody, texture, etc. The meter, as a uniform system of time counting, is in constant contradiction with phrasing, articulation, motivic structure, including harmonic linear sides, rhythmic and textured patterns, and this contradiction is the norm in the music of the 17th - 20th centuries.

The tactometric system has two main varieties: the strict classical meter of the 17th - 19th centuries and the free meter of the 20th century. In strict meter, the beat is constant, but in free meter it is variable.

Along with the two varieties, there was another clock form - the tactometric system without fixed bar lines. It was inherent in Russian cant and baroque choral concert. In this case, the time signature was indicated at the key and the barline was not set when recording individual vocal parts. The bar line often did not have its metrical accent function, but was only a dividing mark. This was the peculiarity of this system as an early clock form.

The theory of tact in the twentieth century was filled with an unconventional variety - the concept of “unequal tact”. It came from Bulgaria, where samples of folk songs and dances began to be recorded in bars. In an uneven beat, one beat is one and a half times longer than the other and is written as a note with a dot (limping rhythm).

New non-beat forms of rhythm organization appeared in the 15th century, along with free time meter. Newer forms include rhythmic progressions and series.

Classifications of musical rhythm.

There are three most important principles for classifying rhythm: 1) rhythmic proportions, 2) regularity - irregularity, 3) emphasis - lack of emphasis. There is also an additional principle that is important for specific genre and style conditions - dynamic or static rhythm.

The doctrine of rhythmic proportions developed in ancient Greek music theory. There were certain kinds of ratios: a) equal to 1:1, b) double 1:2, c) one and a half 2:3, d) epithrite ratio 3:4, e) dochmium ratio 3:5. The names were given according to the name of the feet, according to the relationships within them between the arsis and thesis, between the component parts of the foot.

The mensural system was based on the concept of perfection (division by three) and imperfection (division by two). The result of their interaction was one and a half proportions. The mensural system was essentially a study of the proportions of durations. In the clock system, from the very beginning of its formation, the principles of binarity were established, which extended to the ratios of durations: a whole is equal to two halves, a half is equal to two quarters, etc. The binary nature of duration proportions did not extend to the structure of measures. Triplets, quintuplets, novemoles, which developed in opposition to the prevailing binary system, as contradicting the universal principle, were called “special types of rhythmic division.”

At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the replacement of durations by two by division by three turned out to be so widespread that pure binary began to lose its power. In the music of A. Scriabin, S. Rachmaninov, N. Medtner, triplets occupied such a prominent place that in relation to the styles of these composers it became possible to talk about the two-basicity of the proportion of durations. A similar development of rhythm took place in Western European music.

The following features emerged in new music after 1950. Firstly, any duration began to be divided into an arbitrary number of parts by 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, etc. Secondly, sliding indefinite divisions appear due to the use of the accelerando or rallentando technique in following a rhythmic series of sounds. Thirdly, the omnidivisibility of the time unit has turned into its opposite - into a rhythm with unfixed durations, with the absence of precise designations of time values.

Regularity - irregularity allows all kinds of rhythmic means to be divided according to the quality of symmetry - asymmetry, “consonance” - “dissonance”.

The type of irregular rhythm includes ancient Greek rhythm, mensural rhythm, some types of medieval eastern rhythm, and most rhythmic styles of professional music of the twentieth century. The modal system, a strict classical tact meter, belongs to the type of regular rhythm.

“Regularity” or “irregularity” as a definition of the stylistic type of rhythm does not mean the absolute presence of the phenomena of regularity or irregularity alone. In any music there are rhythm formations of a regular and irregular nature, between which active interaction occurs.

The concepts of “accent” and “non-accent” are criteria for genre and style differences. In music, “accent” and “non-accent” reveal the genre roots of rhythm - vocal-vocal and dance-motor. Hence the rhythm of Gregorian chant, the rhythm of znamenny chant, znamenny fit melodies, some types of Russian lingering songs are “accentless”, and the rhythm of folk dances and their refraction in professional music, the rhythm of the Viennese classical style is “accented”.

An example of an accent rhythm is the theme from the third part of “Scheherazade” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov.

An additional classification principle is the contrast between dynamic and static rhythm. The concept of static rhythm arises in connection with the work of European composers in the 1960s. Static rhythm appears in conditions of a special specific texture and dramaturgy. Texture is a superpolyphony, simultaneously numbering several dozen orchestral parts, and dramaturgy represents subtle changes in the process of movement of form (“static dramaturgy”).

Static rhythm arises due to the fact that time milestones are not distinguished in any way in the textured mass. Due to the absence of such milestones, neither beat nor tempo arises; the sound seems to hang in the air, not revealing any dynamic movement. The disappearance of pulsation by any metric and tempo units means static rhythm.

Means and examples of musical rhythm.

The most elementary means of rhythm are durations and accents.

In vocal music, another type of duration arises, which is assigned to each syllable of the text depending on the duration of its sound in the melody. Folklorists call this “slogonota”.

Accent is a necessary element of musical rhythm. Its essence lies in the fact that it is created by all the elements and means of musical language - intonation, melody, rhythmic pattern, texture, timbre, agogics, verbal text, loudness dynamics. The word "accent" comes from "ad cantus" - "to singing". The original nature of accent as singing and duration appears at the end of the 18th century in such a dynamic style of music as Beethoven's.

A rhythmic pattern is the ratio of the durations of a sequential series of sounds, behind which the meaning of rhythm in the narrow sense of the word was established. It is always taken into account when analyzing the structure of the motive, theme, structure of polyphony, and the development of the musical form as a whole. Some rhythmic patterns were given names based on national characteristics of music. Particular attention was paid to the dotted rhythm with its acute syncopation. Because of its prevalence in Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries, it was called Lombard rhythm. It was also characteristic of Scottish music - it was designated as Scotch snap, and due to the characteristic nature of the same rhythmic pattern for Hungarian folklore, it was sometimes called Hungarian rhythm.

A rhythm formula is a holistic rhythm formation, in which, along with the ratio of durations, accentuation is also necessarily taken into account, due to which the intonation nature of the rhythm structure is more fully revealed. A rhythm formula is a relatively short formation separated from its surroundings. Rhythm formulas are especially important for various non-beat rhythm systems - ancient metrics, medieval modes, Russian Znamenny rhythm, eastern usuls, new, non-beat rhythm forms of the twentieth century. In the clock system, rhythmic formulas are active and constant in dance genres, but as separate figures they develop in music of a different kind - for symbolic-figurative, national-characteristic, etc.

The most stable rhythmic formulas in music are feet – ancient Greek, modal. In ancient Greek art, metrical feet constituted the main fund of rhythmic formulas. Rhythmic patterns were variable, and long syllables could be split into short ones, and short ones could be combined into larger durations. Rhythm formulas are of particular importance in Eastern music with its cultivation of percussion. The rhythmic formulas of percussion, which play a thematic role in the work, are called usuls, and often the name of the usul and the entire work turns out to be the same.

The leading rhythmic formulas of European dances are well known - mazurka, polonaise, waltz, bolero, gavotte, polka, tarantella, etc., although the variability of their rhythmic patterns is very large.

Among the rhythmic formulas of a symbolic and inventive nature that have developed in European professional music are some of the musical and rhetorical figures. It is the rhythmic expression that the group of pauses has: suspiratio - sigh, abruptio - interruption, ellipsis - omission and others. A form of rhythmic formula consisting of fast, even sixteenth notes combined with a scale-like line is the figure of a tirata (stretch, strike, shot).

Examples of nationally characteristic rhythmic formulas in European professional music include the revolutions that developed in Russian music of the 19th century - pentads and various other formulas with dactylic endings. Their nature is not dance, but verbal and speech.

The importance of individual rhythm formulas increased again in the twentieth century, precisely in connection with the development of non-beat forms of musical rhythm. Rhythm progressions also became non-beat formulaic formations, especially widespread in the 50s - 70s of the twentieth century. Structurally, it is divided into two types, which can be called:

1) progression of numbers of sounds.

2) progression of durations.

The first type is simpler, as it is organized by an invariably repeating unit. The second type is rhythmically much more complex due to the absence of a really sounding proportional beat and any periodicity of durations. The most strict progression of durations, with a sequential increase or decrease by the same unit of time (arithmetic progression in mathematics), is called “chromatic”.

Monorhythm and polyrhythm are elementary concepts that arise in connection with polyphony. Monorhythm is complete identity, “rhythmic unison” of voices, polyrhythm is the simultaneous combination of two or more different rhythmic patterns. Polyrhythm in a broad sense means the unification of any rhythmic patterns that do not coincide with each other, in a narrow sense - such a combination of vertical rhythmic patterns when in the real sound there is no smallest time unit that measures all the voices.

Coordination and contradiction of the motive with the beat are concepts necessary for the beat rhythm.

The coordination of the motive with the beat is the coincidence of all elements of the motive with the internal “device” of the beat. It is characterized by evenness of rhythmic intonation and regularity of time flow.

A contradiction between a motive and a beat is a discrepancy between any elements or aspects of the motive and the structure of the beat.

The shift of emphasis from a metrically referenced moment to a metrically non-referenced moment of a beat is called syncopation. The contradiction between the rhythmic pattern and the beat leads to syncopation of one kind or another. In musical works, the contradictions between motive and beat receive a wide variety of refractions.

A higher-order measure is a grouping of two, three, four, five or more simple measures, metrically functioning like one measure with the corresponding number of beats. A higher order tact is not a complete analogy to an ordinary one. It is distinguished by the following features: 1. the higher order beat is variable throughout the musical form, i.e. there are expansions or shortenings of the bar, insertions and omissions of beats;

Accentuation of the first beat of a bar is not a universal norm, therefore the first beat is not as “strong” or “heavy” as in a simple bar. The metrical "count" in the "big measures" begins from the downbeat of the first measure, and the initial measure takes on the function of the first beat of a higher order. The most common meters of higher order are two and four beats, less often - three beats, and even less often - five beats. Sometimes metrical pulsation of a higher order occurs on two levels and then complex beats of a higher order are added up. For example, in “Waltz Fantasy” by M.I. Glinka's main theme represents a complex “big beat”.

Higher-order measures lose their metric function with the systematic variability of the size of an ordinary measure (Stravinsky, Messiaen), turning into syntactic groups.

Polymetry is a combination of two or three meters at the same time. It is characterized by a contradiction in the metrical accents of the voices. The components of polymetry can be voices with constant and variable meters. The most striking expression of polymetry is the polyphony of different unchanging meters, maintained throughout the form or section. An example is the counterpoint of three dances in 3/4, 2/4, 3/8 from Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Polychronicity is a combination of voices with different units of time, for example, a quarter note in one voice and a half note in another. In polyphony there is polychronic imitation, polychronic canon, polychronic counterpoint. Polychronic imitation, or imitation in increase or decrease, is one of the most common techniques of polyphony, significant for different stages in the history of this type of writing. The polychronic canon received special development in the Dutch school, where composers, using mensural signs, varied proposta in various temporary measures. Under the condition of the same unequal ratios of rhythmic units, polychronic counterpoint arises. It is inherent in polyphony on the cantus firmus, where the latter lasts for longer durations than the other voices and forms a contrasting time plan in relation to them. Contrasting time polyphony was widespread in music from early polyphony to the end of the Baroque, in particular it was characteristic of the organums of the Notre Dame school, the isorhythmic motets of G. Machaut and F. Vitry, and for the chorale arrangements of J. S. Bach.

Polytempo is a special effect of polychronicity, when in perception rhythmically contrasting layers appear as if they are moving at different tempos. The effect of tempo contrast exists in Bach’s chorale arrangements, and authors of modern music also resort to it.

Rhythmic shaping

The participation of rhythm in musical formation is not the same in European and Eastern cultures, in other non-European cultures, in “pure” music and in music synthesized with words, in small and large forms. Folk African and Latin American cultures, in which rhythm comes to the fore, are distinguished by the priority of rhythm in formation, and in percussion music by absolute dominance. For example, usul, as an ostinatically repeated or rhythmic formula covering the entire work, completely takes on the function of form-building in Central Asian and ancient Turkish classics. In European music, rhythm serves as the key to form in those medieval and Renaissance genres in which music is in synthesis with words. As the musical language itself develops and becomes more complex, the rhythmic influence on the form weakens, giving way to other elements.

In the general complex of musical language, the rhythmic means themselves undergo metamorphosis. In the music of the “harmonic era,” only the smallest form, the period, is subordinate to the primacy of rhythm. In the large classical form, the fundamental principles of organization are harmony and thematicism.

The simplest method of rhythmic organization of form is ostinatation. It forges a form from ancient Greek feet and columns, eastern usuls, Indian talas, medieval modal feet and ordos, and it strengthens the form from the same or similar motifs, in some cases in a tact system. In polyphony, a notable form of ostinacy is polyostinacy. A well-known genre of oriental polyostinacy is music for the Indonesian gamelan, an orchestra consisting almost exclusively of percussion instruments.

An interesting experience of refracting the principle of gamelan in the conditions of a European symphony orchestra can be seen in A. Berg (in the introduction to five songs with words by P. Altenberg).

A peculiar type of ostinato rhythm organization is isorhythmia (Greek - equal) - the structure of a musical work based on the repetition of the core rhythm formula, updated melodically. The isorhythmic technique is inherent in French motets of the 14th – 15th centuries, in particular Machaut and Vitry. The repeated rhythmic core is designated by the term “talea”, the repeated pitch-melodic section is designated by the term “color”. Talea is placed in the tenor and passes two or more times throughout the piece.

The formative effect of classical meter is multi-faceted in a musical work. The complex form-building function of the meter is carried out in inextricable connection with harmonic development. In classical harmony, an important formative tendency is the change of harmony along the strong beats of a measure.

The most important consequence of the relationship between classical meter and classical harmony is the organization of the eight-bar metric period - the fundamental cell of the classical form. “The Metric Period” also represents the topic itself in its optimal classical version. The theme is made up of motifs and phrases. “Metrical period-octact” can also coincide with a developed sentence.

The "Metric Period" has the following organization. Each of the eight beats acquires a formative function, with greater functional weight falling on the even-numbered beats. The function of uncountable measures can be defined equally for everyone as the beginning of a motive-phrase construction. The function of the second bar is relative phrasal completion, the function of the fourth bar is the completion of a sentence, the function of the sixth bar is gravitating towards the final cadence, the function of the eighth is achieving completeness, the final cadence. The “metric period” can consist of more than just the strict eight measures. Firstly, due to the existence of higher order beats, one “metric beat” can be realized in a group of two, three, or four beats. Secondly, an ordinary period or sentence may contain a structural complication - expansion, addition, repetition of a sentence or half-sentence. The structure becomes non-square. In these cases, the metric functions are duplicated.

In music of classical types of form, we can talk about general models of rhythmic formation. They differ depending on whether the rhythmic style belongs to the type of regular or irregular rhythm and on the scale of the form - small or large.

In the type of regular rhythm, where the elements of regularity dominate and the elements of irregularity are subordinated, the center of attraction and in the formation are the means of regular rhythm. They occupy the main place in the form: they predominate in expositions, icons of form, and dominate in cadences and results of development. Means of irregular rhythm are activated in subordinate areas: in the middle moments, in transitions, connectives, prefixes, in pre-cadence structures. Typical means of regularity are the invariance of tact, the coordination of the motive with the tact, and squareness; by means of irregularity - expositional variability of tact, contradiction of motive with tact, non-squareness. As a result, under conditions such as regular rhythm, two main models of rhythmic formation develop: 1. dominant regularity (ustoy) – dominant irregularity (nonustoy) – again dominant regularity. The first model corresponds to the principle of a dynamic wave of rise and fall. Both models can be seen in both small and large forms (from period to cycle). The second model can be seen in the organization of a number of small forms (especially in classical scherzos).

In the type of irregular rhythm, patterns of rhythmic development are differentiated depending on the scale of the form. At the level of small forms, a more common pattern operates, similar to the first pattern of regular rhythm. At the level of large forms - part of a cycle, a cycle, a ballet performance - sometimes a pattern appears with the opposite result: from the least irregularity to the greatest.

In a clock system, under conditions of an irregular type of rhythm, obligatory metric shifts arise. The original, basic type of meter (size), usually set at the key, can be called the “title” meter or size. A temporary transition to new time signatures that occurs within a structure can be called a metric deviation (by analogy with a deviation in harmony). The final transition to a new meter or measure, coinciding with the end of the form or part of it, is called metric modulation.

Music, starting from the 50s of the 20th century, together with new artistic ideas, new forms of creativity, created new means of rhythmic organization of work. The most typical among them were progressions and series of rhythm. They were actively used mainly in European music of the 50-60s of the XX century.

Rhythm progression is a rhythm formula based on the principle of a regular increase or decrease in durations or numbers of sounds. It may appear sporadically.

A rhythmic series is a sequence of non-repeating durations, repeated many times in a work and serving as one of its compositional foundations.

In European music of the 50s, 60s and early 70s of the 20th century, the rhythmic plan of a work is sometimes composed as individual as the thematism. The situation becomes significant when rhythm is the main formative factor of a musical work. From the perspective of musical creativity of the 20th century, the entire historically established theory of musical rhythm is of significant interest.

List of used literature.

1. Alekseev B., Myasoedov A. Elementary music theory. M., 1986.
2. Vinogradov G. Krasovskaya E. Entertaining theory of music. M., 1991.
3. Krasinskaya L. Utkin V. Elementary music theory. M., 1983.
4. Sposobin I. Elementary theory of music. M., 1979.
5. Kholopova V. Russian musical rhythm. M., 1980
6. Kholopova V. Musical rhythm. M., 1980.

Sensory musical abilities also include a sense of musical rhythm. It has a connection with the ordinary (non-musical) sense of rhythm, which is characteristic of all processes of the universe - from the rhythms of the universe to the biorhythms inside living organisms - and at the same time differs from it. If the sense of rhythm is “the ability to perceive and reproduce rhythmic processes,” then the sense of musical rhythm presupposes a reaction to the specifics of temporal processes in music and their reproduction.

There are many definitions of musical rhythm. According to one of them, “rhythm is the temporal structure of any perceived processes, one of the three (along with melody and harmony) basic elements of music, which distributes in relation to time... melodic and harmonic combinations” (V. Kholopova). Or: “Rhythm is a temporal organization in music; in a narrower sense - a sequence of durations of sounds, abstracted from their height...” (M. Kharlap).

A distinctive feature of musical rhythm is that it includes not only the concept of time, but also the concepts of dynamics, tempo, articulation, since it depends on tempo - speed of movement, rhythmic density, articulation, dynamics. The sense of musical rhythm closely interacts with the dynamic and articulatory aspects of musical hearing.

In creating musical rhythm, all elements of musical speech play an important role - from sounds and pauses to motives, periods, texture, etc. the textured rhythm forms a kind of polyrhythm. The concept of “musical rhythm” is inseparable from the category of meter. This is “a rhythmic form that serves as a measure according to which musical and poetic texts are divided, in addition to semantic division, into metric units” (ibid., p. 34). The meter is associated with the presence of strong and weak beats. Meter can be regular or irregular.

A person reacts to all these properties of musical rhythm thanks to the sense of musical rhythm. Some researchers introduce the concept of “rhythmic hearing.” Rhythm has a motor nature, and musical rhythm primarily appeals to the bodily-muscular principle in a person. The response to musical rhythm is manifested in active muscle contractions, which involve not only the vocal cords, but also external bodily muscles. Therefore, it is no coincidence that ancient Russian musical pedagogical manuals gave strict instructions on the rhythmic nature of singing, so that the rhythm was calm, unnoticeable, and did not distract from singing.

Already in the 13th century, two types of rhythm were noted: a strict rhythm based on the unity of pulsation, and a free one. And if a strict rhythm is more muscular-motor in nature, then a free rhythm involves an appeal to the emotional-intellectual principle and more actively interacts with analytical hearing.

To this it should be added that musical rhythm is characterized by a bright emotional nature, which is not found in any other rhythmic processes. It is an expression of some emotional content.

The sense of rhythm is one of those basic musical abilities that, as practice shows, begin to develop most early, on a subconscious level.

In European music, a sense of musical rhythm is unthinkable without pitch movement. The sense of musical rhythm reveals the sensory nature of this musical ability more clearly than ear for music.

MUNICIPAL BUDGETARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF ADDITIONAL EDUCATION "LOKOSOVSKAYA CHILDREN'S SCHOOL OF ARTS" (MBOU DO LOKOSOVSKAYA DSHI) METHODOLOGICAL WORK ON THEORY ON THE TOPIC: "MUSICAL RHYTHM" Completed by teacher: Altynshina G.R. s. p. Lokosovo 2017 PLAN Introduction Main part 1) Specifics of rhythm in music 2) Basic historical systems of rhythm organization 3) Classification of musical rhythm 4) Means and examples of musical rhythm in literature I. 3 II. 4 Conclusion III. IV. List 19 Introduction Rhythm is the time and accent aspect of melody, harmony, texture, thematic and all other elements of musical language. Rhythm, unlike other important elements of musical language - harmony, melody, belongs not only to music, but also to other types of art - poetry, dance; in which music was in syncretic unity. Existing as an independent kind of art. For poetry and dance, as for music, rhythm is one of their generic characteristics. Music as a temporary art is unthinkable without rhythm. Through rhythm she defines her kinship with poetry and dance. Rhythm is the musical principle in poetry and choreography. The role of rhythm is different in different national cultures, in different periods and individual styles of the centuries-old history of music. Specifics of rhythm in music. the expressiveness of the components of texture, rhythm belongs not only to music, but also to other forms of art - poetry and dance. Music is unthinkable without rhythm. Rhythm is the musical principle in poetry and choreography. The role of rhythm is different in different national cultures. For example, in the cultures of Africa and Latin America, rhythm comes first, but in a Russian drawn-out song its immediate nature is absorbed by the expressiveness of pure melodies. Rhythm in music has specificity, since it receives its expression in the combination of intonations, in the relationship of harmonies, in the logic of motive-timbres, thematic syntax, in movement and architectonics of form. Therefore, we can define musical rhythm as the temporal and accentual aspects of melody, harmony, texture, thematicity and all other elements of musical language. The relationship between rhythm and time categories was different in different historical eras, both in their practical role in music and in their theoretical interpretation. In ancient Greek metrics, the general concept of meter was general, and rhythm was understood as a particular moment - the ratio of arsis (“raising the leg”) and thesis (“lowering the leg”). Many ancient Eastern teachings also placed meter at the forefront. In the study of the European musical clock system, the phenomenon of meter was also given much attention. Rhythm was understood in its narrow meaning as the relationship of a series of sounds, that is, as a rhythmic pattern. The tempo scale acquired its current form during the formation of a mature clock system in the 17th century. Previously, indicators of movement speed were “proportions”, indicating the amount of main duration throughout a section of the work. In the twentieth century, the relationship between rhythm and time categories changed due to a strong modification of the clock system and non-bar forms of musical rhythm. The concept of meter has lost its former inclusiveness, and the category of rhythm has come to the fore as a more general and broader phenomenon. Agogic moments were drawn into the sphere of rhythmic organization, and it spread to the architectonics of musical form. Thanks to this, the problem of organizing the entire time parameter as a new aspect of the theory of musical rhythm turned out to be relevant for the creative practice of the twentieth century. Taking into account the specifics of music from different eras, one must adhere to two definitions of musical rhythm and meter (wide and narrow). The meaning of rhythm in a broad sense has been discussed above. Rhythm in the narrow sense is a rhythmic pattern. Meter in the broad sense of the word is a form of organization of musical rhythm based on some commensurate measure, and in the narrow sense it is a specific metric system of rhythm. Important metric systems include the ancient Greek metric and the modern clock system. With this understanding of meter, the concepts of meter and beat turn out to be non-identical. In ancient metrics, the cell is not a beat, but a foot. The beat belongs to the metric system of European professional music of the 17th-20th centuries. A beat is capable of capturing the rhythm of many systems. Since the time structure is associated with the currently generally accepted notation, for the convenience of reading notes it is customary to translate music of any historical era into time notation. At the same time, it is important to distinguish between non-original types of rhythmic organization and correctly understand the function of the bar line, distinguishing its actual metric role from the conditionally dividing one. Basic historical systems of rhythm organization. In European rhythm, several systems of organization have developed that have unequal significance for the history and theory of rhythm in music. These are the three main verse systems of rhythm: 1. Quantitativeness (metricity in the old meaning 2. Qualitativeness (precision in the literary sense 3. Syllabicity (syllabicity). term) sense) The border between music and poetry is a system (modal rhythm). late medieval modes Actually, the musical systems are mensural and tactometric, and among the newest forms of rhythm organization one can distinguish progressions and series. The quantitative system (quantitative, metric) was important for the music of antiquity, during the period of syncretic unity of music - words - dance. Rhythm had the smallest measuring unit - chronos protos (primary time) or mora (interval). Larger durations were composed of this smallest one. In the ancient Greek theory of rhythm, there were five durations: - chronos protos, brachea monosemos, - makra disemos, - makra trisemos, - makra tetrasemos, - makra pentasemos. The system-forming property of quantification was that rhythmic differences in it were created by the ratio of long and short, regardless of stress. The main ratio of syllables in longitude was double. Formed from long and short syllables, the feet were precise in timing and weakly susceptible to agogic deviations. In subsequent periods of the history of music, quantity was reflected in the formation of rhythmic modes, in the preservation of the type of ancient feet as rhythmic patterns. For modern music, quantification has become one of the principles of rhythmization of verse. In Russian musical culture of the early nineteenth century, the subject of attention was the idea of ​​the presence of long-short syllables in the Russian language. Around the middle of the century, ideas about the tonic principle of Russian literature became stronger. The qualitative system is entirely verse and verbal. It contains rhythmic differences according to the principle of not long - short, but strong - weak. Qualitative type feet have become a convenient model for comparisons with them and for determining various kinds of musical rhythm formations with their help. Soviet musicologist V.A. Tsukkerman made a systematization of the types of bar patterns, also defining their expressive meaning. However, only an analogy is valid between timed rhythmic figures and foot formulas, since timeliness and feet belong to different systems of rhythmic organization. The syllabic system (syllabic) is also a verse system. It is based on the counting of syllables, on the equality of the number of syllables. Therefore, its main meaning is to be the rhythmic basis of verse in vocal works. The syllabic system also received musical refraction. After all, the equality of the number of sounds, like the number of syllables, forms a temporary organization, which can become the basis of a rhythmic structure. It is precisely this rhythmic form that is found among the compositional techniques of the twentieth century, especially after 1950 (an example is the 1st part of “Serenade” for clarinet, violin, double bass, percussion and piano by A. Schnittke). Modal rhythmics, or a system of rhythmic modes, operated in the 12th-13th centuries in the schools of Notre Dame and Montpellier. It was a set of mandatory rhythmic formulas. Every author and poet-composer adhered to this system. The general system of six rhythmic modes: 1st mode 2nd mode 3rd mode 4th mode 5th mode 6th mode All modes were united by a six-beat size with different rhythmic filling. The cells of the modal rhythm were ordo (row, order). Single ordos were similar to a unique foot, or monopodia, double ordos were similar to a double foot, dipodia, triple-tripodia, etc.: ethos First mode: Single ordo Double ordo Triple ordo Quadruple ordo Modes, like ancient feet, were endowed with a certain ethos. The first mode expressed liveliness, liveliness, and a cheerful mood. The second mode is the mood of grief, sadness. The third mode of the properties of the previous two is liveliness with depression. The fourth was a variation of the third. The fifth had a solemn character. The sixth was a “flowery counterpoint” to the rhythmically more independent voices. The mensural system is a system of musical note durations. It was caused by the development of polyphony, the need to coordinate the rhythmic relationships of voices; served as a theory of polyphony before the advent of the doctrine of counterpoint. Mensural rhythm to a certain extent was associated with modal principles. The regulating measure was the hexadeleton. His bipartite and tripartite groupings, juxtaposed simultaneously and sequentially, were typical formulas of the era of the late medieval Renaissance rhythm. In the 13th - 16th centuries, the mensural system developed and its feature was the equality of divisions of durations into 2 and 3. Initially, only triplicity was the norm. In theological concepts, it corresponded to the trinity of God, three virtues - faith, hope, love, as well as three types of instruments - percussion, strings and wind. Therefore, the division into three was considered modern (perfect). Division into two was put forward by musical practice itself and gradually gained a large place in music. Taxonomy of the main mensural durations: Maxima (duplex longa) Longa Brevis Semibrevis Minima Fusa Semiminima Semifusa To distinguish between ternary and binary divisions, verbal designations (Perfectus, imperfectus, major, minor) and graphic signs (circle, semicircle, with or without a dot inside) were used. . The characteristic mensural rhythms include the following variants of the hexapartite, which were used in sequence and in simultaneity: The grouping of six beats in 3 and 2 reflects the two-basicity of the rhythmic proportions of the mensural system and the characteristic proportion of the hemiola or sesquialtera. The tactometric or clock system is the most important system of rhythmic organization in music. The name “tactuc” originally denoted a visible or audible blow of the conductor’s hand or foot, a touch on the console, and implied a double movement: up - down or down - up. A beat is a length of musical time from one beat to another, limited by beat lines and evenly divided into beats: 2-3 in a simple beat, 4,6,9,12 in a complex beat, 5,7,11, etc. d. - mixed. Meter is an organization of rhythm based on the uniform alternation of time segments, the uniform sequence of beats of a bar, and the difference between stressed and unstressed beats. The difference between strong and weak beats is created by musical means - harmony, melody, texture, etc. The meter, as a uniform system of time counting, is in constant contradiction with phrasing, articulation, motivic structure, including harmonic linear sides, rhythmic and textured patterns, and this contradiction is the norm in the music of the 17th - 20th centuries. The tactometric system has two main varieties: the strict classical meter of the 17th - 19th centuries and the free meter of the 20th century. In strict meter, the beat is constant, but in free meter it is variable. Along with the two varieties, there was another clock form - the tactometric system without fixed bar lines. It was inherent in Russian cant and baroque choral concert. In this case, the time signature was indicated at the key and the barline was not set when recording individual vocal parts. The bar line often did not have its metrical accent function, but was only a dividing mark. This was the peculiarity of this system as an early clock form. The theory of tact in the twentieth century was filled with an unconventional variety - the concept of “unequal tact”. It came from Bulgaria, where samples of folk songs and dances began to be recorded in bars. In an uneven beat, one beat is one and a half times longer than the other and is written as a note with a dot (limping rhythm). New non-beat forms of rhythm organization appeared in the 15th century, along with free time meter. Newer forms include rhythmic progressions and series. Classifications of musical rhythm. – lack of emphasis. There are three most important principles for classifying rhythm: 1) rhythmic proportions, 2) regularity - irregularity, 3) emphasis. There is also an additional principle that is important for specific genre and style conditions - dynamic or static rhythm. The doctrine of rhythmic proportions developed in ancient Greek music theory. There were certain kinds of ratios: a) equal to 1:1, b) double 1:2, c) one and a half 2:3, d) epithrite ratio 3:4, e) dochmium ratio 3:5. The names were given according to the name of the feet, according to the relationships within them between the arsis and thesis, between the component parts of the foot. The mensural system was based on the concept of perfection (division by three) and imperfection (division by two). The result of their interaction was one and a half proportions. The mensural system was essentially a study of the proportions of durations. In the clock system, from the very beginning of its formation, the principles of binarity were established, which extended to the ratios of durations: a whole is equal to two halves, a half is equal to two quarters, etc. The binary nature of duration proportions did not extend to the structure of measures. Triplets, quintuplets, novemoles, which developed in opposition to the prevailing binary system, as contradicting the universal principle, were called “special types of rhythmic division.” At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the replacement of durations by two by division by three turned out to be so widespread that pure binary began to lose its power. In the music of A. Scriabin, S. Rachmaninov, N. Medtner, triplets occupied such a prominent place that in relation to the styles of these composers it became possible to talk about the two-basicity of the proportion of durations. A similar development of rhythm took place in Western European music. In the new music after 1950, the following features emerged. Firstly, any duration began to be divided into an arbitrary number of parts by 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, etc. Secondly, sliding indefinite divisions appear due to the use of the accelerando or rallentando technique in following a rhythmic series of sounds. Thirdly, the omnidivisibility of the time unit has turned into its opposite into a rhythm with unfixed durations, with the absence of precise designations of time values. Regularity - irregularity allows all kinds of rhythmic means to be divided according to the quality of symmetry - asymmetry, “consonance” - “dissonance”. - Elements of regularity Elements of irregularity ratio, rhythmic Equal and double ratio One-and-a-half ratio 3:4, 4:5 Ostinate and uniform Variable patterns rhythmic patterns Variable foot Unchanged foot Variable tact Unchanged tact Simple, complex tact Mixed tact Contradiction of motive with tact Coordination of motive with tact Multifaceted regularity Rhythm polymetry Non-squareness Squareness of beat groupings of groupings Ancient Greek rhythmics, some types of medieval eastern rhythmics, and most rhythmic styles of professional music of the twentieth century belong to the type of irregular rhythmics. The modal system, a strict classical tact meter, belongs to the type of regular rhythm. mensural rhythm, “Regularity” or “irregularity” as a definition of the stylistic type of rhythm does not mean the absolute presence of the phenomena of regularity or irregularity alone. In any music there are rhythm formations of a regular and irregular nature, between which active interaction occurs. The concepts of “accent” and “non-accent” are criteria for genre and style differences. In music, “accent” and “non-accent” reveal the genre roots of rhythm - vocal-vocal and dance-motor. Hence the rhythm of Gregorian chant, the rhythm of znamenny chant, znamenny fit melodies, some types of Russian lingering songs are “accentless”, and the rhythm of folk dances and their refraction in professional music, the rhythm of the Viennese classical style is “accented”. An example of an accent rhythm is the theme from the third part of “Scheherazade” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov. An additional classification principle is the contrast between dynamic and static rhythm. The concept of static rhythm arises in connection with the work of European composers in the 1960s. Static rhythm appears in conditions of a special specific texture and dramaturgy. Texture is a superpolyphony, simultaneously numbering several dozen orchestral parts, and dramaturgy represents subtle changes in the process of movement of form (“static dramaturgy”). Static rhythm arises due to the fact that time milestones are not distinguished in any way in the textured mass. Due to the absence of such milestones, neither beat nor tempo arises; the sound seems to hang in the air, not revealing any dynamic movement. The disappearance of pulsation by any metric and tempo units means static rhythm. Means and examples of musical rhythm. The most elementary means of rhythm are durations and accents. In vocal music, another type of duration arises, which is assigned to each syllable of the text depending on the duration of its sound in the melody. Folklorists call this “slogonota”. Accent is a necessary element of musical rhythm. Its essence lies in the fact that it is created by all the elements and means of musical language - intonation, melody, rhythmic pattern, texture, timbre, agogics, verbal text, loudness dynamics. The word "accent" comes from "ad cantus" - "to singing". The original nature of accent as singing and duration appears at the end of the 18th century in such a dynamic style of music as Beethoven's. A rhythmic pattern is the ratio of the durations of a sequential series of sounds, behind which the meaning of rhythm in the narrow sense of the word was established. It is always taken into account when analyzing the structure of the motive, theme, structure of polyphony, and the development of the musical form as a whole. Some rhythmic patterns were given names based on national characteristics of music. Particular attention was paid to the dotted rhythm with its acute syncopation. Because of its prevalence in Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries, it was called Lombard rhythm. It was also characteristic of Scottish music - it was designated as Scotch snap, and due to the characteristic nature of the same rhythmic pattern for Hungarian folklore, it was sometimes called Hungarian rhythm. A rhythm formula is a holistic rhythm formation, in which, along with the ratio of durations, it is necessary to take into account which makes the accentuation and intonation character of the rhythm structure more fully revealed. A rhythm formula is a relatively short formation separated from its surroundings. Rhythm formulas are especially important for various non-beat rhythm systems - ancient metrics, medieval modes, Russian Znamenny rhythm, eastern usuls, new, non-beat rhythm forms of the twentieth century. In the clock system, rhythmic formulas are active and constant in dance genres, but as separate figures they develop in music of a different kind - for symbolic-figurative, national-characteristic, etc. The most stable rhythmic formulas in music are the ancient Greek feet. In ancient Greek art, metrical feet constituted the main stock of rhythmic formulas. Rhythmic patterns were variable, and long syllables could be split into short ones, and short ones could be combined into larger durations. Rhythm formulas are of particular importance in Eastern music with its cultivation of percussion. The rhythmic formulas of percussion, which play a thematic role in the work, are called usuls, and often the name of the usul and the entire work turns out to be the same. The leading rhythmic formulas of European dances are well known - mazurka, polonaise, waltz, bolero, gavotte, polka, tarantella, etc., although the variability of their rhythmic patterns is very large. modal. Among the rhythmic formulas of a symbolic and inventive nature that have developed in European professional music are some of the musical and rhetorical figures. It is the rhythmic expression that the group of pauses has: suspiratio - sigh, abruptio - interruption, ellipsis - omission and others. A form of rhythmic formula consisting of fast, even sixteenth notes combined with a scale-like line is the figure of a tirata (stretch, strike, shot). Examples of nationally characteristic rhythmic formulas in European professional music include the revolutions that developed in Russian music of the 19th century - pentads and various other formulas with dactylic endings. Their nature is not dance, but verbal and speech. The importance of individual rhythm formulas increased again in the twentieth century, precisely in connection with the development of non-beat forms of musical rhythm. Rhythm progressions also became non-beat formulaic formations, especially widespread in the 50s - 70s of the twentieth century. Structurally, it is divided into two types, which can be called: 1) progression of the quantities of sounds. 2) progression of durations. The first type is simpler, as it is organized by an invariably repeating unit. The second type is rhythmically much more complex due to the absence of a really sounding proportional beat and any periodicity of durations. The most strict progression of durations, with a sequential increase or decrease by the same unit of time (arithmetic progression in mathematics), is called “chromatic”. Monorhythm and polyrhythm are elementary concepts that arise in connection with polyphony. Monorhythm is complete identity, “rhythmic unison” of voices, polyrhythm is the simultaneous combination of two or more different rhythmic patterns. Polyrhythm in a broad sense means the unification of any rhythmic patterns that do not coincide with each other, in a narrow sense - such a combination of vertical rhythmic patterns when in the real sound there is no smallest time unit that measures all the voices. Coordination and contradiction of the motive with the beat are concepts necessary for the beat rhythm. The coordination of the motive with the beat is the coincidence of all elements of the motive with the internal “device” of the beat. It is characterized by evenness of rhythmic intonation and regularity of time flow. A contradiction between a motive and a beat is a discrepancy between any elements or aspects of the motive and the structure of the beat. The shift of emphasis from a metrically referenced moment to a metrically non-referenced moment of a beat is called syncopation. The contradiction between the rhythmic pattern and the beat leads to syncopation of one kind or another. In musical works, the contradictions between motive and beat receive a wide variety of refractions. A higher-order measure is a grouping of two, three, four, five or more simple measures, metrically functioning like one measure with the corresponding number of beats. A higher order tact is not a complete analogy to an ordinary one. It has the following features: 1. The higher order beat is variable throughout the musical form, i.e. there are expansions or shortenings of the bar, insertions and omissions of beats; Accentuation of the first beat of a bar is not a universal norm, therefore the first beat is not as “strong” or “heavy” as in a simple bar. The metrical "count" in the "big measures" begins from the downbeat of the first measure, and the initial measure takes on the function of the first beat of a higher order. The most common meters of higher order are two and four beats, less often - three beats, and even less often - five beats. Sometimes metrical pulsation of a higher order occurs on two levels and then complex beats of a higher order are added up. For example, in “Waltz Fantasy” by M.I. Glinka's main theme represents a complex “big beat”. Higher-order measures lose their metric function with the systematic variability of the size of an ordinary measure (Stravinsky, Messiaen), turning into syntactic groups. Polymetry is a combination of two or three meters at the same time. It is characterized by a contradiction in the metrical accents of the voices. The components of polymetry can be voices with constant and variable meters. The most striking expression of polymetry is the polyphony of different unchanging meters, maintained throughout the form or section. An example is the counterpoint of three dances in 3/4, 2/4, 3/8 from Mozart's Don Giovanni. Polychronicity is a combination of voices with different units of time, for example, a quarter note in one voice and a half note in another. In polyphony there is polychronic imitation, polychronic canon, polychronic counterpoint. Polychronic imitation, or imitation in increase or decrease, is one of the most common techniques of polyphony, significant for different stages in the history of this type of writing. The polychronic canon received special development in the Dutch school, using mensural signs, and varied proposto in various temporary measures. Under the condition of the same unequal ratios of rhythmic units, polychronic counterpoint arises. It is inherent in polyphony on the cantus firmus, where the latter lasts for longer durations than the other voices and forms a contrasting time plan in relation to them. Contrasting time polyphony was widespread in music from early polyphony to the end of the Baroque, in particular it was characteristic of the organums of the Notre Dame school, the isorhythmic motets of G. Machaut and F. Vitry, and for the chorale arrangements of J. S. Bach. where composers, Polytempo is a special effect of polychronicity, when in perception rhythmically contrasting layers are formed as moving at different tempos. The effect of tempo contrast exists in Bach’s chorale arrangements, and authors of modern music also resort to it. Rhythmic formation The participation of rhythm in musical formation varies in European and Eastern cultures, in other non-European cultures, in “pure” music and in music synthesized with words, in small and large forms. Folk African and Latin American cultures, in which rhythm comes to the fore, are distinguished by the priority of rhythm in formation, and in percussion music by absolute dominance. For example, usul, as an ostinatically repeated or rhythmic formula covering the entire work, completely takes on the function of form-building in Central Asian and ancient Turkish classics. In European music, rhythm serves as the key to form in those medieval and Renaissance genres in which music is in synthesis with words. As the musical language itself develops and becomes more complex, the rhythmic influence on the form weakens, giving way to other elements. In the general complex of musical language, the rhythmic means themselves undergo metamorphosis. In the music of the “harmonic era,” only the smallest form, the period, is subordinate to the primacy of rhythm. In the large classical form, the fundamental principles of organization are harmony and thematicism. The simplest method of rhythmic organization of form is ostinatation. It forges a form from ancient Greek feet and columns, eastern usuls, Indian talas, medieval modal feet and ordos, and it strengthens the form from the same or similar motifs, in some cases in a tact system. In polyphony, a notable form of ostinacy is polyostinacy. A well-known genre of oriental polyostinacy is music for the Indonesian gamelan, an orchestra consisting almost exclusively of percussion instruments. An interesting experience of refracting the principle of gamelan in the conditions of a European symphony orchestra can be seen in A. Berg (in the introduction to five songs with words by P. Altenberg). A peculiar type of ostinato rhythm organization is isorhythmia (Greek - equal) - the structure of a musical work based on the repetition of the core rhythm formula, updated melodically. The isorhythmic technique is inherent in French motets of the 14th – 15th centuries, in particular Machaut and Vitry. The repeated rhythmic core is designated by the term “talea”, the repeated pitch-melodic section is designated by the term “color”. Talea is placed in the tenor and passes two or more times throughout the piece. The formative action is multi-faceted in a musical work. classical meter Complex The most important consequence of the relationship of classical meter with classical harmony is the organization of the eight-bar metrical period - the fundamental cell of the classical form. “The Metric Period” also represents the topic itself in its optimal classical version. The theme is made up of motifs and phrases. “Metrical period-octact” can also coincide with a developed sentence. The "Metric Period" has the following organization. Each of the eight beats acquires a formative function, with greater functional weight falling on the even-numbered beats. The function of uncountable measures can be defined equally for everyone as the beginning of a motive-phrase construction. The function of the second bar is relative phrasal completion, the function of the fourth bar is the completion of a sentence, the function of the sixth bar is gravitating towards the final cadence, the function of the eighth is achieving completeness, the final cadence. The “metric period” can consist of more than just the strict eight measures. Firstly, due to the existence of higher order beats, one “metric beat” can be realized in a group of two, three, or four beats. Secondly, an ordinary period or sentence may contain a structural complication - expansion, addition, repetition of a sentence or half-sentence. The structure becomes non-square. In these cases, the metric functions are duplicated. the formative function of the meter is carried out in inextricable connection with harmonic development. In classical harmony, an important formative tendency is the change of harmony along the strong beats of a measure. In music of classical types of form, we can talk about general models of rhythmic formation. They differ depending on whether the rhythmic style belongs to the type of regular or irregular rhythm and on the scale of the form - small or large. In the type of regular rhythm, where the elements of regularity dominate and the elements of irregularity are subordinated, the center of attraction and in the formation are the means of regular rhythm. They occupy the main place in the form: they predominate in expositions, icons of form, and dominate in cadences and results of development. Means of irregular rhythm are activated in subordinate areas: in the middle moments, in transitions, connectives, prefixes, in pre-cadence structures. Typical means of regularity are invariance of beat, coordination of motive with beat, squareness; by means of irregularity - expositional variability of tact, contradiction of motive with tact, non-squareness. As a result, under conditions such as regular rhythm, two main models of rhythmic formation develop: 1. predominant regularity (establishment) - dominant - again dominant regularity. The first model corresponds to the principle of a dynamic wave of rise and fall. Both models can be seen in both small and large forms (from period to cycle). The second model can be seen in the organization of a number of small forms (especially in classical scherzos). irregularity (unstable) In the type of irregular rhythm, patterns of rhythmic development are differentiated depending on the scale of the form. At the level of small forms, a more common pattern operates, similar to the first pattern of regular rhythm. At the level of large forms - part of a cycle, a cycle, a ballet performance - sometimes a pattern appears with the opposite result: from the least irregularity to the greatest. In a clock system, under conditions of an irregular type of rhythm, obligatory metric shifts arise. The original, basic type of meter (size), usually set at the key, can be called the “title” meter or size. A temporary transition to new time signatures that occurs within a structure can be called a metric deviation (by analogy with a deviation in harmony). The final transition to a new meter or measure, coinciding with the end of the form or part of it, is called metric modulation. Music, starting from the 50s of the 20th century, together with new artistic ideas, new forms of creativity, created new means of rhythmic organization of work. The most typical among them were progressions and series of rhythm. They were actively used mainly in European music of the 50-60s of the XX century. Rhythm progression is a rhythm formula based on the principle of a regular increase or decrease in durations or numbers of sounds. It may appear sporadically. A rhythmic series is a sequence of non-repeating durations, repeated many times in a work and serving as one of its compositional foundations. In European music of the 50s, 60s and early 70s of the 20th century, the rhythmic plan of a work is sometimes composed as individual as the thematism. The situation becomes significant when rhythm is the main formative factor of a musical work. From the perspective of musical creativity of the 20th century, the entire historically established theory of musical rhythm is of significant interest. List of used literature. 1) Alekseev B., Myasoedov A. Elementary music theory. M., 1986. 2) Vinogradov G. Krasovskaya E. Entertaining theory of music. M., 1991. 3) Krasinskaya L. Utkin V. Elementary theory of music. M., 1983. 4) Sposobin I. Elementary theory of music. M., 1979. 5) Kholopova V. Russian musical rhythm. M., 1980 6) Kholopova V. Musical rhythm. M., 1980.

While professional musicians are able to memorize music by ear, most beginners need to learn to read music. Understanding the principles of reading music is also important for dancers and can captivate the heart of the casual listener. First you need to learn how to count the musical rhythm or know how long to hold or play each note. It is also important to know what a time signature is. This article describes standard principles for reading music using a 4/4 time signature.

Steps

Part 1

The concept of tact. Music is divided into measures, indicated by vertical bars. Notes in music are named according to how much time they occupy in a bar. Think of the beat as a pie that can be cut into quarters, halves, eighths, or a combination of different notes.

Learn basic musical notation. The names of the notes contain information about what part of the measure they occupy. To fully understand, you must know the basic meaning of “shares.” A whole note will take up an entire bar, half notes will take up half a bar.

• Quarter notes take up 1/4 of a bar.
• Eighth notes take up 1/8 of a bar.
• Sixteenth notes take up 1/16 of a bar.
• Notes can be combined to create one whole note, for example, one half note and two quarter notes last one full measure.

1. Try to keep the rhythm. If the rhythm is monotonous, try beating it with your heel and counting to four several times: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Speed ​​is not as important here as maintaining the same amount of space between each strike. A metronome can be helpful in maintaining a steady rhythm.

   • Each complete cycle of counting 1-2-3-4 is equal to one beat.

2. Try counting the length of the base notes. Say or sing “la” while continuing to count the rhythm to yourself. A whole note will take up the entire measure, so start singing the note "A" on the first beat and hold it until you reach the fourth. You just sang a whole note.

   • Two half notes make up a full measure. Sing an "A" note for beats 1-2, then a new "A" note for beats 3-4.
   • Four quarter notes make up a full measure. Sing an "A" note for each beat you beat.

3. For smaller notes, add syllables. For eighth notes, you need to divide the bar into eight equal sections, although you will still only be hitting four beats per bar. Add the conjunction “and” between each beat: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.” Practice until you get it right. Each word represents 1/8 of a note.

4. Point value. Sometimes in music there is a small dot right after the notes. This means that the length of the note should be increased by 50%.

   • A half note usually takes up two beats, but with a dot it increases to three beats.
   • A quarter note without a dot takes up one beat, while a quarter note with a dot takes up 1 1/2 beats.

5. Practice playing triplets. Triplet refers to a group of three notes that lasts one beat. It is quite problematic to perform them, since all the notes studied before had equal shares. Pronounce the syllables - this will help you master triplets.

   • Try hitting triplets, saying “1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.”
   • Remember to keep the number beats consistent by using a metronome or foot taps.

6. Do it your way. Fermata is a musical notation that looks like a dot with an arc above the note. According to this symbol, you have the right to stretch the note as much as you like, regardless of musical rules.

   • If you are in an ensemble, then the duration of the note is determined by the conductor.
   • If you are performing solo, determine the most appropriate length in advance.
   • Listen to a recording of yourself playing if you're not sure how long to hold a note. This will give you insight into other artists' solutions, which will help you choose the best sound.

   Part 2

   Learn the time signature

   1. Determine the time signature. In the top left corner of the sheet music you will see some musical notation. The first character is called the "clef", which usually depends on the instrument on which the piece is played. Then there may be sharps or flats. But after them you should see two numbers arranged in a column. This is the time signature.

      • In the first part of this article we used the 4/4 time signature, which is indicated by two fours standing on top of each other.