Following Notation
Following the notations can seem daunting at first. They can look very complicated and confusing. It's easier to just concentrate on the instrument you're playing and ignore the rest.
All of our tunes are played over 4 or 8 beats. These are timed by simply counting 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. The mestre counts this when they're counting in a signal. The notation show this at the top:
Tune played over 4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
Tune played over 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
(The tunes played over 8 are still played at the same speed, it's normally just that the rhythms are longer and run over two 4s)
Each note is further split into 4. A beat landing on the first section of the note is played directly on the note:
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If a note lands in the middle on the block, it is known as landing on the "off beat". If you count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4", the off beats are the ones that land on the "and" - like this:
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| 1 | and | 2 | and | 3 | and | 4 | and | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If a note lands on the remaining blocks, it means that the note is played just before or just after the beat.
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| Played just after the beat |
Played just before the beat |
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This notation indicates a double beat. These are 2 notes played together quickly.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| x | x | |||||||||||||||
These are the basic building blocks of a rhythm notation. Using the notation from our Samba Reggae tune, see if you can work out how it should sound, based on the rules above.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| x | x | x | x | x | ||||||||||||
Once you think you've got a handle on your part, try playing it with everyone else. Quite often you'll hear motifs in what others are playing that echo what you're playing. Listen especially to the surdos - they're the ones ultimately responsible for keeping the tempo and rhythm of the tune.
To keep time, try stepping side to side (1 = side step, 2 = feet together, 3 = side step other way, 4 = feet together). Not only does it help you stop speeding up, but if everyone is doing it, it actually looks quite funky!
It can also quite useful listening to the sound file at the same time as looking at the notation to familiarise yourself with matching up sounds to notes. This is especially true for some of the more complex rhythms. Some people learn a rhythm better by hearing it rather than just looking at the notation - go with the one that suits you the best.
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having.
 All linked files are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence. |