Penny Weedon's weekly wanderings

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Penny Weedon's weekly wanderings

Postby PeterA » 21 Jul 2019 09:26

I received this in my inbox, yesterday.

Weedon's Wanderings: 11th July 2019

FASCINATING RHYTHM!

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We’re probably all familiar with the sight of dozens of feet tapping in time to a march or dance number at a concert. But is rhythm the fundamental aspect of music? Music could be said to consist of pitch (how high or low a note sounds), beat (the steady pulse that ticks away in the background, like a metronome), rhythm (the varying pattern of a tune which we can copy by clapping it), harmony (the combination of notes sounded together with pleasing - or less pleasing - results) and timbre (recognisable differences in sound such as volume, different instruments, acoustics etc). Which one is the foremost?

It’s worth considering this: if I play you a tune with all the rhythm removed - in other words, all the pitches there but otherwise a long string of regular notes - you are unlikely to recognise it. But if I tap the rhythm of a well-known tune without any pitch you are more likely to get it. You can check that by clicking here.

We can discount the other elements - beat, harmony and timbre - as the key to recognising a piece. A metronome beat sounds like a metronome ticking, nothing more and nothing less. And a sequence of chords without a tune is unlikely to be instantly recognisable. And hearing an oboe or a french horn, a loud, quiet or echoing sound is unlikely to spark recognition either.

So the fascinating conclusion is that rhythm is the fundamental aspect of music, a fact rather backed up by these videos of a cockatoo and a baby feeling the groove! This is pure instinct at work. And instinct is implanted at birth. Which makes us then wonder: where does the universal love of music stem from? Nothing this complex could just arrive from nowhere...

Weedon Music
Music for everyone

(Penny Weedon is a performer, composer, teacher, and recording artist)
Organ: Yamaha AR80
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Re: Penny Weedon's weekly wanderings

Postby Hugh-AR » 21 Jul 2019 09:29

Peter ..

I have added the LINKS that Penny had in her 'Blog' to take you to the YouTube clips of what she was referring to. So click on the red LINKS above to get the full picture (pardon the pun). Once you have watched a video, press the 'back button' to get back to the page you were originally viewing.

And by the way, I didn't pick up what the tune was when Penny played it with just the RHYTHM, even though it is a tune I know well, and also play it myself! I think it's a case of having the tune in the mind to start with in order to recognise it ie. if I had a list of about 20 tunes to choose from then I would recognise which one it was just from the Rhythm.

Thanks for posting this!

Hugh
It's all about the music ♫ ♪ ♫ Organ: Yamaha AR80 & Keyboard: Tyros 4
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