Chapter 7:  Your First Rhythms

• Next, hero, you will learn to read rhythms.  Rhythms tell you how long to play each note.
  

• You have already learned about the quarter note and the quarter rest.  They each receive one count or "beat". 

A Quarter Note

A Quarter Rest

A 4/4 time signature

• Music is measured in "bars".  Each bar is separated by bar lines. 
  
• Most of the music you will play at first will have this symbol.  This is called a time signature.  Because there are two fours in it, it tells you that every bar will have four beats in it and a quarter note is one beat in length.
  

• Count each bar by counting the beats in the bar (see example below)
• Listen to the audio clip.  Count and play the music below.
  

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A Half Note

Two Eighth Notes

• To the left are two new rhythms.  
• The half note gets two beats (twice as long as a quarter note).
• The eighth note get a half of a count.  Two of them together get one beat.  Count them by saying "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".
  

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To earn your sixth Gem of Mastery:

Listen to the audio clip.  Count and play along.  When you are able to confidently play the short song below, you will have mastered a new skill!

When you have mastered the skill, click below:

Skill Mastered!