Whether you are a dancer, a musician or just a music lover, you know that rhythm is a very important component of any song and you have probably already heard the term beat. The beat is the basic unit of rhythm, the constant beat of the song, the part that makes you tap your feet. With a little practice and the basics of music theory, anyone can learn to recognize and count the beats of a song.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Listening by Ear
Step 1. Eliminate distractions
When trying to listen to a beat by ear, be sure to devote your full attention to the music. Use headphones or move to a quieter environment where there are no unwanted noises.
Step 2. Pay attention to instruments that play low notes, such as drums
If you're trying to find the tempo of a song, ignore instruments that produce higher notes, such as lead guitar or vocals. Try focusing on basses instead, like electric bass and kick drum.
- If you are listening to a digital recording, try increasing the volume of the bass so you can hear it better.
- In a song, it is often the bassline that carries the tempo in a stable manner. Ignore complex rhythms and melody. It aims to identify what appears to be the "beating heart" of the song.
- Listening to the drums is the best way to count beats. In rock and country music, you can typically hear the kick drum on 1 and 3 and the snare drum on 2 and 4. In house, pop and funk music, the kick is generally played on all four bars.
Step 3. Listen to the phrasing
A musical phrase is a complete section of notes, often only a couple of measures long. Practice listening to the natural phrasing of the songs.
Try listening to a song as if you were watching a conversation. Where would the speaking person stop to catch his breath? What does a musical "phrase" remind you of? Try counting these small sections of the song to find the cadences
Step 4. Say it out loud
Use the words, or tap your foot to the rhythm of the music. If you are out of time, practicing aloud will immediately notice and it will be easier to get back to the rhythm.
Step 5. Start with songs you know well
It is easier to find the beat of a song that you have heard many times. You probably already have an idea of what the cadence is. To learn to find the rhythm, repetition is essential.
Step 6. Move to the beat of the music
You can walk, run or dance to the rhythm. Your body will likely tend to keep track of the right time. Check out John Travolta in "Staying Alive" if you want to see an example.
Part 2 of 3: Using a Sheet Music
Step 1. Learn to recognize the notes
Before you can start counting in music, you need to know the length of individual pauses and notes. The notes represent the period in which sounds are produced in a piece, while the pauses indicate how long the moments of silence last.
- A semibreve lasts four bars. A minimum, two bars. A quarter note, a beat. An eighth note lasts half a beat. A sixteenth note lasts a quarter of a bar.
- The rests follow the pattern of the notes. For example, a minimum rest lasts two bars.
- A dot next to a rest or note increases its duration by half its value. For example, a minimum bet lasts three bars.
Step 2. Identify the measures
Each piece of music is divided into parts called measures. This will help you count the beats, as each measure contains the same number of beats.
Step 3. Determine the tempo
The tempo is indicated at the beginning of each piece of music as a fraction. It can change as you play, and in that case, the new indication will appear at the start of a measure.
Step 4. Use the words
While you are reading a score, solphing the bars of a song aloud allows you to understand and follow the tempo. For eighth notes, use "e". Try saying "one-and-two-and-three-and-four". For sixteenth notes, use "i".
- In a song, the downbeat is represented by the first beat of a measure. For example, the "one". Make sure you start with that particular line.
- The upbeat is the "e" you pronounced earlier. For example, if you are following the rhythm by tapping your foot on the ground, the upbeat is when the toe is raised.
Step 5. Use a metronome
If you know the tempo of a song, the easiest way to keep the beat as you count the beats is to use a metronome. This instrument produces a ticking at regular intervals, respecting a certain number of beats per minute (or bpm). You can find many free ones online.
Part 3 of 3: Determine the Time
Step 1. Learn to understand the importance of time
To count the beats of a piece of music it is necessary to know the two components of rhythm: measure and tempo. Tempo is a simple description of the speed of a song; the meter is the regular pattern of the beats of a piece and establishes its accents. Tempo is indicated with a fraction that describes the duration of a measure in the musical composition.
The fraction numerator indicates how many beats there are in each measure. The denominator indicates what kind of note characterizes each measure. For example, if the denominator is 1, it indicates a semibreve; if it is 2, it indicates minimums. Similarly, 4 indicates quarter notes and 8, eighth notes
Step 2. Practice counting beats on simple tempos first
Time can be simple, composed or irregular. This will help you become familiar with your understanding of how time is indicated.
- Simple times can be binary, ternary or quaternary, i.e. the numerator of the fraction will always be 2, 3 or 4.
- Unlike a compound tempo, in a simple tempo you will hear beats in multiples of 2, which means that you can divide each note of each measure into 2. For example, in a 2/4 time, the two quarter notes of each measure can be divided into four eighth notes. The natural accent falls in multiples of 2 or 3.
- Tap your foot. To recognize the tempo of a song by ear, pay attention to the bassline beat. Try to figure out if the pulse you feel can naturally be split in two. Listen to the song to find a repeating rhythm pattern and count how many notes are played between repetitions.
- Remember the most common notations for the time. A lot of Western music tracks use 4/4, so if you're in doubt, try counting along that tempo and see if it fits the song. Familiarize yourself with other times. For example, 3/4 resembles the waltz.
Step 3. Count the beats in a compound time
Unlike simple tempos, compound tempos follow patterns in groups of 3. For this reason, dotted notes often define compound tempos. The numerator of a compound time is always 6, 9 or 12.
- In compound tenses, divide the numerator by 3 to calculate the number of beats in a measure. The denominator always represents the unit of time. For example, a time in 6/8 has two beats per measure and each lasts three eighths of a note, a dotted quarter note.
- Louis Armstrong's famous song "What a Wonderful World" can be counted in 6/8: try to stamp your feet while singing the song, to understand what a compound tempo is.
Step 4. Remember that, in some cases, the tempo of a song is irregular
This means that the meter does not fall into the binary, ternary and quaternary categories. For example, 5/8 is an irregular tempo because it contains a 5.
- It is easier to consider irregular times as combinations of simple and compound times.
- For example, in 5/8 you will find a simple beat (two eighth notes) and a compound beat (three eighth notes). The order in which these bars appear in the measure does not matter.
- When you listen to a song that uses irregular tempo, you will notice that the beats are split into two - or even three - parts.
- Use what you have learned from counting simple and compound times to follow irregular times.
Advice
- If you can, practice with a friend or a group of friends. This will help you know when you are out of time.
- Remember that songs often have more than one tempo. Count small parts of a song at a time.
- Don't get frustrated! Anyone can learn to follow the beat, but it takes a lot of practice to be able to recognize the beats of a song without effort.
