Dimensions in music: types, notation. Tact in music

Everyone who studies music, without fail passes the study of musical notation and solfeggio. And one of the fundamental themes is the dimensions in music. Further, their main varieties, methods of determination and some of the most common combinations will be considered.

The concept of a musical meter

Before giving a definition of what a musical size is, one must have an idea of a concept called a musical meter.

It is considered that all music is based on the so-called pulsation - the alternation of equal in duration shares, which can be strong and weak. A strong share is always in the first place in tact. But you can not confuse strong stakes with an emphasis, since such allocation can occur and to weak shares.

In modern music, you can often find meters, consisting of two or three parts. In simple terms, a bipartite meter consists of one strong and one weak fraction (once or twice), and a three-legged one consists of one strong and two weak (one-two-three). Thus, a musical meter can be represented as the process of counting such interlaces or even as a certain time grid with the sequence of fractions indicated in it.

Types of shares and their varieties

Understanding what a musical size is is impossible without knowing the kinds of shares. As already mentioned, in the simplest case they are divided into strong and weak.

However, some may argue, they say, but what about the most common size of 4/4? In music, it is believed that the first part is strong, the second and fourth are weak, while the third is relatively strong. The size itself refers to complex, because it consists of two simple. But this will be discussed separately.

Tact in music

Now a few words about understanding tact. Speaking in plain language, the tact in music is the interval of sound from one strong to the other.

No matter how much is indicated in the musical size of the shares in aggregate, only one strong share can be present in the bar and there may be as many as relative strengths and weaknesses. The score in the bar always starts "one". Depending on the size, the shares can be counted as "one-two" ("one-two-three"), "one-two-one" ("one-two-and-three-and") and E.

The clock size in music: the main varieties

Finally, we turn to the notion of size. Dimensions in music are sometimes called the numerical expression of a meter with an indication of the relative duration of the shares and their total number in one bar.

Why is the concept of relative duration used? Yes, only because the shares can be broken into components, which the musical meter does not provide. For example, the size 4/4 in music, denoted by the Latin letter "C", provides for one measure, consisting of four quarter notes in total.

But after all, every quarter note can be represented as a combination of eighths, sixteenths, thirty-second or even sixty-fourth notes! How exactly they will be combined among themselves, the composer himself decides. The main thing is that their sum does not exceed the total duration of sound corresponding to four quarters. But these are the foundations of musical literacy.

As for the main varieties, the clock sizes in music are divided into simple and complex. Complex sizes include also categories of mixed, asymmetric and variable sizes.

Simple musical sizes

Based on the understanding of the meter, you can describe the dimensions, in music called simple. They are distinguished by dicotyledons and tri-lobed sizes. In the first case, the repetition of strong shares occurs through one weak, and in the second - two.

The most common two-lobed sizes are 2/8, 2/4 and 2/2 (the size 2/2 in music, as well as 2/8, is extremely rare, and is considered exclusively within the framework of theoretical information). Of the three-lobed sizes, those are 3/4, 3/8 and 3/2. Again, sizes 3/2 or 3/8 are practically not used, and the size of "three quarters" is the most common (for example, it is used for almost all waltzes).

Sophisticated musical dimensions

Complex dimensions in the simplest case should be understood as the union of two or more simple ones. In this case, it is the first fraction of the first size that is strong, and a seemingly strong fraction of the second automatically passes into the category of relatively strong.

In complex sizes, the simplest to understand dimensions are 4/4, 4/2, 6/4, 6/2, 6/8, 12/8, 8/4, 8/8. As you can see, such dimensions are comparable to each other, for example, 8/8 is the same as 4/4.

Mixed and unbalanced musical sizes

Another thing - mixed sizes. In music, there are often five-, seven-, nine- and eleven-trident combinations. And the sequence of shares, respectively, can look quite different. As an example, consider 5/4.

When creating this size, simple components are used: 2/4 and 3/4. But the combination can look like "2 + 3", and "3 + 2". Thus, there is a shift in relation to a strong fraction.

The most, perhaps, bright and famous composition written in this size with a combination of "3 + 2" can be called "The Aria of Mary Magdalene" from the rock opera Andrew Lloyd Webber "Jesus Christ - Superstar".

As for the other dimensions, there may be more combinations in them. For example, the musical size 7/8 can consist of the sequences "2 + 2 + 3", "2 + 3 + 2" or "3 + 2 + 2". In the nine- and eleven-tiered dimensions of such variations, respectively, more. But when creating music with such sizes it is worth remembering that an ordinary listener will hear such a melody with difficulty, and not everyone can play it.

Although, if you look at the bands playing thrash metal, they are coping with it simply superbly and quite often combine "ripped" riffs with ordinary simple or complex dimensions.

For example, the same Xentrix group very successfully alternates the dimensions of 3/4 with the triples of the eighths for each beat and 7/8, sometimes adding 9/8. Naturally, the unprepared listener will not be able to determine the size by ear from the first time, but it sounds very, very interesting. In general, the classic of the genre.

Variable musical dimensions

This type of dimensions in music are extremely rare, and mostly in folk musical folklore. Bulgarian folk songs are a vivid example.

The very concept of this term implies only that during one composition the basic size can vary several times, for example, using several ordinary complex and several asymmetric dimensions.

Method of determining the size

When determining the size of a listener, the listener relies solely on his hearing and the sense of rhythm. Only this way one can discern where exactly the strongest part sounds, from which it is necessary to repulse.

However, in almost all music schools in the solfeggio lessons, students apply a special technique of conducting. For example, the size 4/4 is represented as a sweep of the hand, first down, then to the left, then to the right and up again (usually at an angle of 45 degrees).

Three quarters - swings down, to the right and up. Six eighths - swings down, to the left, to the right, up again, and at the top two signals to the right (or in another combination). However, at first in determining the dimensions of the ear and writing dictations, teachers, in order to develop a sense of rhythm among students, deliberately allocate a strong share of each measure. It is this technique that allows you to achieve that in the future a person will be able to determine any type of dimension (even with their alternation) independently and without any accents or clues.

Conclusion

If you draw a line, you can note that the musical dimensions are very closely related to the understanding of the musical meter, beats and bars. Therefore, in order to learn to clearly determine exactly what dimension sounds in a musical work, without the fundamentals of musical literacy and solfeggio can not do.

True, many students, at least at first, solfeggio, to put it mildly, dislike, considering it unnecessary and difficult to understand. However, it is he who is the very foundation that gives fertile ground for the emergence of man as a musician of the highest professional level. After all, Ritchie Blackmore, a world-famous guitarist who played in such well-known bands as Deep Purple and Rainbow, argued that the speed of finger movement on the neck is not yet a technique. Without knowledge of the basics and classical canons of music, it's simply impossible to become a professional at the highest level.

So it is possible to advise beginning musicians to be reserved with patience and assiduity and to study these subjects thoroughly. In music education, so to speak, it is like "Our Father".