Reading Musical Rhythms:

                As we discussed in the Learning Music With Ray: Reading Music (Rhythm vs. Pitch) lesson, there are two main aspects of musical notation.  A musical note simultaneously conveys both pitch and rhythm.  Pitch tells us how high or low to play (what frequency).  Musical rhythm tells us how long to hold a note for.  Today we will be focusing on the rhythmic aspect of notation

We read rhythms by observing the shape of the note.  Each musical rhythm is portrayed by a differently shaped note.  A whole note is the longest fundamental rhythm of most modern music.  By fundamental, I mean it is the longest rhythmic value represented purely through notation.  Other notational additives, such as dots and ties, can be used to lengthen a circle.  We will discuss these additives in more detail in future lessons.  The whole note is the shape of a hollow circle.  Its value is always equal to the whole base value of the time signature. 

Before I continue, let me explain this concept of base value.  The bottom number of a time signature tells us the base value of that piece of music.  Just like math, music can be performed in different base values.  The most common base value for music is 4.  This concept is more thoroughly covered in my Learning Music With Ray: Time Signatures part 1 lesson.  Most beginning musical performance repertoire contains time signatures with a 4 on the bottom.  For this reason, most teachers tell their students that the quarter note receives one beat, the half note receives two beats, the whole note receives four beats and the eighth note receives half a beat.  These are the correct rhythmic values in a base 4 time signature.  However, these values change in a different base system.  Today, I am choosing to present all of the information about base systems and rhythmic values in the interest of teaching for understanding.  If understanding this concept proves difficult for you at this stage, concentrate on studying the rhythmic values in base 4 time signatures since these are the most common.  Since all of the information is being presented, the lesson can easily be customized for various levels of learning.  It would be impossible to add to the lesson if I decided to leave out the information about rhythmic values in other base systems. 

A half note is a circle with a line extending from one side.  This line is called a stem.  This additional physical characteristic is the only thing that distinguishes this rhythm from a whole note.  A half note receives half of whatever the base value is set in the time signature. 

A quarter note is a circle that has been colored in and has a stem.  The fact that the circle is now colored in (instead of being hollow) is the only thing that distinguishes this rhythm from a half note.  A quarter note receives a quarter of whatever the base value is set in the time signature.

An eighth note is a circle that has been colored in, has a stem and has a flag attached to the stem.  The flag is the only thing that distinguishes this rhythm from a quarter note.  An eighth note receives an eighth of whatever the base value is set in the time signature.

The rhythmic values that are shorter than an eighth note are created by adding additional flags.  Two flags added to a stem indicates the value of a sixteenth note (one sixteenth the length of the base value), three flags indicates the value of a thirty-second note (one thirty-second the length of the base value), four flags indicates the value of a sixty-fourth note (one sixty-fourth the length of the base value) and so on.  It would be impossible to list all of the rhythmic values, since they continue on (theoretically) in this pattern indefinitely.  The pattern I refer to consists of the denominator of the fraction constantly being doubled (or the fraction itself constantly being halved). 

When two or more rhythms with flags are written next to each other, they can be connected by beams as a substitute for the flag.  In this case, one beam would indicate a grouping of eighth notes, two beams would indicate sixteenth notes, and so on.  Even mismatched flag rhythms can be beamed together.  They are all connected with at least one beam, and additional segmented beams are added to indicate the different rhythms.

As mentioned earlier, the values of the rhythms are derived from the base value of the time signature.  The most common base value is 4, so the most common rhythmic values (in base 4) are:

In a base value of 8:

In a base value of 2:

All of these values are depicted in one master chart provided below.     

               This Learning Music With Ray video discusses how to read the fundamental rhythmic values found in musical notation.  I describe the physical appearance of each basic rhythmic value, pointing out the physical attribute that changes with each shorter rhythm.  I also explain the beat value that each basic rhythm possesses in various time signatures, and why their values change in different time signatures.  I provide visual illustrations and charts to help explain all of these concepts.  

Gospel / R&B Parallel Harmony Piano Patterns:

The styles of gospel and R&B piano often incorporate close voiced parallel harmony moving up and down the keyboard. A well known example of this is Bill Wither’s song, Lean On Me. In that song, the melody is harmonized with close voiced parallel chords. This style is often used to create the harmony parts for gospel choirs. It can also be used by piano players to fill out periods within a song that are harmonically stagnant.

My original song, Walk My Way, is composed of two basic chords (A7 and D7). However, this simple harmonic structure is filled out with elaborate parallel harmonies. All of these harmonies are derived from either the mixolydian or blues scales that correspond to these two chords. This technique creates the illusion of a much more complex harmonic structure.

The parallel harmonies of the right hand are further complemented by the style of straddled octaves in the left hand. The rhythmic performance of these straddled octaves varies between straight hits, syncopated accents and triplet patterns in combination with the right hand chords. These varied rhythmic options in combination with chromatic lines serve to create a left hand part that both compliments the right hand and fills out the arrangement.

The final element of this arrangement is the use of occasional riffs based off of the A blues scale. These riffs provide a temporary break from the primary playing format. The skillful combination of parallel harmony (with varied motion), left hand straddled octaves and blues riffs creates a varied and full arrangement that remains interesting and fresh. In the video, I clearly demonstrate the use of all these techniques.

This Learning Music With Ray video discusses a basic application of parallel harmony piano patterns within gospel and R&B music. In this lesson, I provide a step by step demonstration (and explanation) of the parallel harmony piano patterns found in my arrangement of the original song Walk My Way. I also provide an explanation of the left hand techniques and musical riffs used throughout the song arrangement.

Reading Music (Rhythm vs. Pitch):

                Why do we have to read musical notation?  Why can’t they just write the letters that they want us to play on the page?  What is the point of having all these lines and circles on the page?  While functioning as a public school beginning band teacher, these are some of the questions I am asked every start of a new school year.  Learning to read music is essentially learning to read a new language.  However, when composers write music down on paper they have the difficult task of conveying many ideas simultaneously.  The main function of most written languages is to convey words.  Feeling and tone can be conveyed through punctuation and implied through content.  However, the main function of musical notation is to convey sound.  In this case, the rhythm, pitch, dynamic, articulation and mood must all be conveyed in the notation.  Two of these aspects, rhythm and pitch, are directly conveyed through the actual musical note (the others are conveyed through additional symbols and words found in the sheet music).  Today we will focus on these two aspects of musical notation.

                A musical note simultaneously conveys both pitch and rhythm.  Writing letters on a page would be an ineffective form of musical notation, because this would only convey pitch.  In addition, there would be no way to distinguish between the various octaves when writing a musical letter on a page.  Our musical notation system automatically conveys the exact pitch (letter and register) that is to be played and how long it is to be held for.  This dual purpose of the musical note calls for specificity when discussing musical notation.  Using the word “note” makes it difficult to determine if we are referring to the rhythmic value or the pitch.  Referring directly with the use of the word “rhythm” or “pitch” helps to avoid this confusion.

               A musical rhythm tells us how long to hold a note for.  We read rhythms by observing the shape of the note.  Each musical rhythm is portrayed by a differently shaped note.  For example, a whole note is a circle.  A half note is a circle with a line extending from one side.  This line is called a stem.  A quarter note is a circle that has been colored in and has a stem.

                Pitch tells us how high or low to play.  This does not refer to the volume of the note, it refers to the frequency.  We read pitch by discerning the specific line or space that the head (the circle) of the musical note rests on.  Each line or space of a musical staff refers to a different pitch.  The details of musical pitch are discussed further in my video entitled Learning Music With Ray: The Musical Alphabet.      

               Some people get confused when reading a musical example in which there are multiple occurrences of the same pitch with different rhythmic values.  Since the shape of the note is different, it is easy to assume that this is a different “note” (meaning pitch).  Remember, using that word “note” can cause confusion.  It is important to always distinguish between pitch and rhythm.  In this example, the rhythm (shape of the note) looks different.  This means that each note should be held for a different rhythmic value.  However, if all of these notes are all written on the same location of the musical staff (same line or space), then they are all the same pitch.  

This confusion can also occur when several varying pitches (written on different lines or spaces of the staff) with the same rhythmic value are written. 

               This Learning Music With Ray video discusses the two main characteristics of a musical note, and how to distinguish between these two characteristics.  Musical notes written on a staff help us to determine both the pitch that is to be played and the rhythmic value of that pitch.  In this lesson, I discuss the difference between reading pitch and reading rhythm.  I explain the different aspects and functions of both of these parts of notation.  Finally, I provide musical examples that often cause confusion for beginning readers, and explain the proper way to read these examples.  

Advanced Major Scales Practice Techniques

                This Learning Music With Ray video discusses the method I use to be able to play multiple scales in rapid succession.  The primary reason for this type of scale study in my practice routine is to develop an automatic recall of the pitches within each scale or key signature.  This helps me to express myself in jazz improvisation with being hindered by needing additional time to shift tonal centers (temporary key signatures) in my mind.  Truly knowing a scale and being able to access different scales quickly frees musicians to mentally contain themselves within the confines of a given key at a given time.    In this video, I used both chromatic movement and movement through the circle of fifths to cycle through the various scales that I am practicing.  I demonstrate a process of playing through the scales using different variations of these patterns.

                Since the goal of this type of practice is rapid recall and succession through scales, I only play half of the normal scale pattern (either just going up or just going down).  I find that playing all the way up and down a scale provides too much time for me to think about the next scale in the sequence that I am going to play.  In jazz improvisation, there are times where the chord changes happen very slowly (example: every two measures) giving us plenty of time to prepare for the key center of the next chord.  However, there are also times where the chords change very quickly (example: every two beats) and we need to be able to change key centers in our mind at a pace that keeps up with the chords.  I find that limiting my time on each scale by just traveling up or down (not both) better simulates these more challenging musical performance situations. 

                For these examples, I decided to list only 12 scales using the names that are most commonly found in most circle of 5ths diagrams.  I already discussed in my video Learning Music With Ray: Memorizing vs.Understanding the fact that there are only 12 different tones in music (within 1 octave), but there are many possible pitch names for the various tones.  I used a graphic that displays 21 possible pitch names in many of my videos to help people understand this concept.  However, the purpose of today’s lesson is to rapidly cycle through each scale in either a chromatic or circle of 5ths pattern.  If I were to include multiple names of the same scale (enharmonically equivalent to each other) in these exercises I would not be changing scales each time (sometimes I would only be changing scale names while playing the same scale).  That would defeat the purpose of this exercise.

                When traveling chromatically, the correct process is to use a pitch’s sharp name when traveling up and its flat name when traveling down.  I did not follow this process since I am naming scales and not individual pitches.  I wanted the names I used to be the most common names found in most circle of 5ths diagrams, so that the majority of students would be able to relate to them when practicing. 

                I also chose to write out each scale (for each exercise) using accidentals to name each pitch (instead of a key signature).  Again, I chose to do this for the ease of the student when reading the visual examples.   I did not want any other aspects of music theory (like remembering to apply a key signature) to get in the way of accomplishing the main goal of the lesson.  However, please remember that the main goal of this style of practice is rapid recall.  Students applying these practice techniques should have already mastered the base knowledge and understanding of key signatures, scales, chromatic and circle of 5ths movement.  In addition, they should already have all of the major scales committed to memory.  Now we are trying to gain a more rapid response time when recalling the knowledge that we have already gained an understanding of. 

                The patterns that I provide in this video are only some examples of how I try to increase my response time when recalling rapid scale changes.  As I explain in the video, other variations can be applied to the order in which the scales are practiced and the patterns used to change from scale to scale.  My hope is that the examples provided in this lesson with not only provide you with literal examples of advanced scale practice methods, but also help you to understand how to develop you own variations on these practice examples.      

Funk Piano Patterns

                The style of funk piano incorporates elaborate rhythmic patterns that quickly alternate between the left and right hand.  This style of playing does not view the hands as separate entities playing separate parts.  Instead, the two hands work as one group of ten fingers playing one rhythmic pattern that stretches across the keyboard.  The sensation of this style of rhythmic exchange between the hands is something that the conventional piano player is not initially accustomed to.

                In The Way You Love Me, the primary musical hook is composed of a piano funk pattern.  This pattern arpeggiates the chord tones, but not in the typical liner arpeggio style of motion.  The back and forth motion between the hands is what helps to create the funk feel within the pattern.  This pattern is repetitious and identifiable; creating a focal point that the listener can latch on to.  It appears in both the introduction, portions of the verse and portions of the chorus.  This presence throughout the song helps to tie everything together under one rhythmic motif. 

The use of this rhythmic hook also helps to fill out what would ordinarily be empty space between the chord changes.  A major concern that piano players express when attempting to play chord changes on a lead sheet is that they do not know what to play between the changes.  This stems from being accustom to playing printed music where everything is written out.  When playing chord changes, we are called upon to spontaneously create and compose while we are playing.  Incorporating rhythmic and melodic patterns that are based on the chord tones (or scales associated with the chord) is a great way to accomplish spontaneous creation.  We fine tune this skill by creating patterns that are recognizable motifs which reoccur throughout the song.

       This Learning Music With Ray video discusses a basic application of funk piano patterns within contemporary Christian music. In this lesson, I provide a step by step demonstration (and explanation) of the funk piano patterns found in my arrangement of the original song The Way You Love Me.  I also provide a chord analysis and explanation of chord voicings used throughout the lesson.  However, the primary focus of the lesson is to demonstrate how knowledge of chord theory can be used to create interesting rhythmic and melodic patterns out of a simple chord progression.