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what type of notes are these and how many beats?

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 pab
(@pab)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 103
Topic starter  

hi there. i have a question regarding what type of notes these are and how many beats they get in 4/4 time. unfortunately i cannot put a picture of it here so i'll do my best to describe them.

1. 3 notes joined with a bar across the top. however, the first 2 of the 3 notes have 2 bars joining them on the top, and the last 2 notes only have 1 bar joining them. my guess: that the first 2 notes are 16th notes, and the last note is an 8th note, and the total beats for the 3 notes is 1 beat.

2. 4 notes joined by one bar. i would think that each note is an 8th note and would get 1/2 beat (the same as as if 2 notes were joined together instead of 4), but i'm not sure as i've never seen them joined like this (you can tell that i'm a beginner).

thanks!

pab


   
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(@kingpatzer)
Noble Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2171
 

Sounds like you have it exactly right.

If you break each beat in 4/4 time into 4 parts, you're counting in 16ths. Usually folks use something like "1 e & a" to vocalize that count. The image below shows your first question. For your second question, imagine that the bar between the & of 2 and beat 3 just continued and joined those two sets of eighth notes together. Unfortunately, I'm not adept enough at my musical notation software to figure out how to join them . . .

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(@noteboat)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4921
 

1. You're right.

2. You're right again. Whether eighths are beamed in twos, fours, or sixes depends on where they fall, really. Some publishers (and some software) organize all divisions by beats - so you'd have only beamed pairs. But much more common is to join eighths in metric units.

A metric unit is a group of one stressed and one or more unstressed beats; how many beats depends on the meter. 2/4 is duple meter (stress-unstressed pairs of beats), so beaming can be done in groups of up to four eighths. You might see four beamed eighths, or maybe an eighth rest followed by three beamed eighths, etc.

A time signature like 3/4 is a triple meter (stress-unstressed-unstressed), so you might see measures with six beamed eighths.

Other simple time signatures are organized the same way, around metric units. Compound signatures - which divide each beat into three parts, like 12/8 time (four beats, each with a "triplet feel"), are organized by beat, so you'd see four groups of three beamed eighths.

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 pab
(@pab)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 103
Topic starter  

thanks for your posts and clarification. it is appreciated!

pab


   
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