Musicianship | Time Trees

BASIC NOTE VALUES

EXERCISE 1

This exercise is designed to make sure you can feel as well as understand the relationship between the basic note values — that is all of the note values that are related by 2, which you would learn in ABRSM Grade 1 theory.

1a - 1 : 2

In Exercise 1a, you will perform two parts that have a pulse relationship of 1 : 2 (1 against 2). That means [the 1] in one part, and [the 2] (the division of 2) in the other. Like so:

You should perform these two parts using a series of decreasing note values, with the overall tempo staying the same (so the note values will get shorter and quicker!):

semibreve : minims

minims : crotchets

crotchets : quavers

quavers : semiquavers

Note that at each stage the two note values that you are performing have a relationship of 1 : 2.

1b - 1 : 4

In Exercise 1b, you will perform two parts that have a pulse relationship of 1 : 4 (1 against 4). That means [the 1] in one part, and [the 4] (the division of 4) in the other. Like so:

As in the previous exercise, you should perform these two parts using a series of decreasing note values, with the overall tempo staying the same (so the note values will get shorter and quicker!):

semibreve : crotchets

minims : quavers

crotchets : semiquavers

Note that at each stage the two note values that you are performing have a relationship of 1 : 4.

1c - 1 : 8

In Exercise 1c, you will perform two parts that have a pulse relationship of 1 : 8 (1 against 8). That means [the 1] in one part, and [the 8] (the division of 8) in the other. Like so:

Again, you should perform these two parts using a series of decreasing note values, with the overall tempo staying the same (so the note values will get shorter and quicker!):

semibreve : quavers

minims : semiquavers

Note that at each stage the two note values that you are performing have a relationship of 1 : 8.

DOTTED NOTE VALUES

EXERCISE 2

(advanced)

This exercise is designed to make sure you can feel as well as understand dotted note values, which create a relationship of 1 : 3 (1 against 3).

In Exercise 2, you will perform two parts that have a pulse relationship of 1 : 3 (1 against 3). That means [the 1] in one part, and [the 3] (the division of 3) in the other. Like so:

Again, you should perform these two parts using a series of decreasing note values, with the overall tempo staying the same (so the note values will get shorter and quicker!). But beware, the relationship between these note values is not as straightforward as those related by 2!

dotted semibreve : minims

dotted minims : crotchets

dotted crotchets : quavers

dotted quavers : semiquavers

Note that at each stage the two note values that you are performing have a relationship of 1 : 3.