Rhythm Studies
Many thanks to Michiko Yurko for creating the Blue Jello Rhythms and for sharing them with the world!
Time Signature
The time signature appears at the beginning of a music score as stacked numbers.
- The lower number tells you what kind of note represents the beat unit.
- The upper number tells you how many beat units are in one bar.
Tempo
Tempo is the speed at which a piece of music should be played. It is usually measured in beats per minute, also known as bpm. For the purposes of these exercises, unless otherwise noted, all exercises will be performed at 60 bpm, or one beat per second.
Beat Unit
A beat unit is the rhythmic figure that occurs in the space of one beat, and, in the case of these exercises, unless notated, it will be the rhythmic pattern that is happening in the space of one second.
Groove
A groove can be felt as a quality of persistently repeated rhythmic units.
What I Mean By “Get Your Groove On”
It is helpful, when learning a new rhythmic concept, to execute the new rhythm over and over again to a simple drum track. You could use a metronome, but drum tracks tend to be easier to follow, especially if the drum track is in the same time signature or groove as the one you are learning. Special shout out to Lumbeat for making these drum tracks accessible to the world!
Just Start Getting Your Groove on Now
We could spend a lot of time in discussion, but what is better is to clap, count or play with a musician. There is no substitute for in person learning, but perhaps my series of YouTube videos will get you part way there.
Level 1
1.1 Quarter Notes
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
New Blue Jello Rhythm Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Singing
Ba Ba
Get Your Groove On
Now try all three ways (Traditional, Blue Jello, and Ba Ba) with this drum track:
1.2 Quarter Notes & Quarter Rests
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 & 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
(This example is executed two times in a row in the recording.)
Blue Jello Counting
(This example is executed two times in a row in the recording.)
Singing
Ba Ba
(This example is executed two times in a row in the recording.)
Get Your Groove On
Now try all three ways with this drum track:
1.3 Half & Whole Notes & Rests
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Singing
Get Your Groove On
Now try all three ways by yourself with this drum track:
1.4 The Tie
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Singing
Ba Ba
Get Your Groove On
Level One Summary Exercise
Level 2
2.1 Eighth Notes
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Level 2.1 Summary Exercise
2.2 No Rhythm Studies for this unit
2.3 8th Notes in Compound & Complex Time
- Compound Time: 6/8, 9/8, 12/8
- Beat Unit in Slow Time: Eighth
- Beat Unit in Fast Time: Dotted Quarter
- Complex Time: 5/8, 7/8
- Beat Unit: Eighth
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Singing
Ba Ba
Get Your Groove On
Now try clapping and/or singing all of the above rhythms with this drum track:
Level 2.3 Summary Exercise
And now for an extra challenge, try this exercise in 5/8. 5/8 is considered complex time. Complex time combines simple and compound time in each bar.
Level 3
3.1 & 3.2 Simple 16th & 8th Note Figures
- Simple Time: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4
- Beat Unit: Quarter
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Singing La Da
Get Your Groove On
Summary Exercise
3.3 Cut Time
- Simple Time: 2/2
- Beat Unit: Half
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
Traditional Counting
Blue Jello Counting
Get Your Groove On
Summary Exercise
3.4 Quarter & 8th Note Triplets
New Blue Jello Vocabulary
In 2/4, 3/4, and 5/4
In 2/2, 3/2, and 4/2
Traditional Counting
There isn’t really an agreed upon way to count triplets.
Blue Jello Counting
Get Your Groove On
Summary Exercises
Level 4
4.1 Eighth Note Rests
Simple, Compound, & Complex Time
4.2 Eighth Note Ties
Simple Compound & Complex Time
4.3
4.4