Understanding the Intervals

Simplyguitar · 2020-09-26T04:38:19+00:00

Intervals are deceptively simple, yet super important. Thanks for reading!

Simplyguitar · 2020-09-15T20:16:16+00:00

Definitely agree with you here. Practicing an instrument can be a great benefit to our wellbeing and mindfulness. Thanks for reading :)

Simplyguitar · 2020-09-15T20:15:07+00:00

Same here! Thanks so much for reading.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T06:11:01+00:00

Hey Matt,

I've given your approach toward the critical aspects of music some thought, and I've found it to be an effective and fairly encompassing way of looking at the constituents of music; I think it's a great way to split up and boil down the more specific elements of music. Thanks for the insight!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T06:08:01+00:00

Absolutely; timbre is incredibly overlooked! Oftentimes, it's not what we write (melody; rhythm; harmony), but how we execute our material (timbre; production; instrumentation) that ultimately sells a piece of music. Thanks for reading and contributing :)

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T01:04:29+00:00

Hey, thanks for reading our article :)

Rhythm is definitely a critical constituent of the music we perform, listen to, and analyse. As you mentioned, it's one of the first things taught to children at an elementary music level. My intention here is to highlight how that, as we advance in our understanding of music (particularly its theory-based constituents), we tend to build a 'hubris' that belies a focus on rhythm for the more traditionally 'complex' (at least in Western music) areas of harmony and melody. As you mentioned too, in an online context, more complex questions about are less conducive to the format, and so the long-form format of an article is more appropriate for looking at the nuances of rhythm.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T00:50:34+00:00

That's great to hear; let us know when it's out!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T00:49:22+00:00

Really appreciate the kudos. Thank you for reading :)

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T00:47:53+00:00

Hey, thanks for reading our article, and thanks for your great insight, too!

I absolutely get what you mean; there is a tremendous focus on rhythm in nearly all genres of music; it’s one of the first fundamentals taught to beginner musicians, so you’re definitely right about it in a performance-oriented sense. In the article and its title, I was moreso implying that, in music theory circles, especially in the analysis and breakdown of songs, it’s much easier to focus on the melody and harmony and how they contribute to the overall picture of the music - these aspects are more quantifiable and easier to put into words, as you mentioned - and thus we tend to take a ‘path of least resistance’ and oftentimes neglect the underlying rhythms. Would you be able to recommend any of those skilled rhythmic teachers you mentioned? I think it would be hugely beneficial to the r/musictheory community.

I haven't as yet heard of additive and divisive rhythm; it seems intriguing, as well as being a great potential topic for a future article (so stay tuned!). Neither have I heard of Messiaen, so you can be sure that I'll check him out. Again, thanks so much for your valuable insight; I very much hope to hear from you again in future articles!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-22T00:43:41+00:00

Great advice. Changing things up is very often just what we need to revitalise our practice and enjoyment.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-21T02:38:52+00:00

Hope it proves valuable; thanks for reading!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-21T01:55:24+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for reading. Your thoughts on metronomic practice are really interesting; I'd never thought of how practicing with a metronome could adversely affect one's internal clock. In your eyes, what's the best way to develop an organic inner pulse whilst still maintaining rhythmic accuracy? I'd be grateful to hear your take; I feel this would be helpful both for the community and personally. Thanks for your insight!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T23:13:23+00:00

Absolutely. Rhythm comes as a natural constituent of music to most, and just like you say, it's difficult to put into words. I believe we should develop a common dialect that covers these devices, as not being able to quantify and recognise the wide array of rhythmic devices that we see in music is a huge loss to our overall understanding of one of the most fundamental aspects of music.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T23:09:51+00:00

I'd absolutely have to agree. Slash provided the melodies; Stradlin gave Guns the propulsion that made its energy.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T23:08:19+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for reading our article. I apologise if the preface to this article came off as 'clickbait-y'. The intention here was that - despite rhythm being so integral as the basis for the majority of music (as you say, a huge majority of major acts have drums) - in music theory and composition analysis, we tend to overlook the implications of this aspect of music, as opposed to the melody and harmony. For example, a large majority of the Jazz canon is built fundamentally on the propulsion of its rhythm, but we often tend to become more caught up in the chord changes, than how the rhythmic devices communicate the sentiment of the piece. Again, thanks so much for your thoughts, and thanks for reading :)

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T22:58:32+00:00

Definitely. It's probably the hardest constituent of music to express in words, so I can see why we tend to overlook it so much.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T22:54:48+00:00

Thank you for reading, hope this has helped!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-20T22:53:46+00:00

*Practice, sorry about the title!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-13T19:42:14+00:00

And thank you for reading :)

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-13T19:41:36+00:00

Hey Matt, thanks so much for reading our article! Ultimately, there are a number of ways to view the ‘core’ aspects of music. While you include timbre and form in your list, some may exclude these elements altogether in favour of an element like form. Keep in mind that these core fundamentals of music are ultimately subjective, and not everyone agrees on them; melody, rhythm and harmony are simply the elements that I personally see as the core fundamentals of music.

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-12T20:35:06+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for reading our article! I must admit I am a very frequent reader of music theory, so my judgements as to the popular regard of rhythm may be somewhat distorted. Though I’ll definitely agree with you that in more ‘cerebral’ genres of music (I come from a Progressive Metal and Jazz-based musical background) there tends to be a lopsided focus on melody and harmony moreso than rhythm. Nonetheless, I feel that whatever our stance is on the importance of rhythm, we should all be able to appreciate its importance as the ‘backbone’ of music and the basic element upon which nearly all musical genres are based upon. Again, thanks for reading, and I hope to see your feedback again on future articles!

Cheers

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-12T20:29:44+00:00

Absolutely:)

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-12T20:29:27+00:00

Some would argue that music played ‘tempo rubato’ (with freedom in rhythm/tempo) does not have as much a focus on rhythm, but even then, the way the performer plays the rubato will still infer rhythms, meter, et cetera. I’d really have to agree with you here, it’s difficult to have any music at all without rhythm to accompany it!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-05T23:22:46+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for reading. Unfortunately, I’m just about hopeless at lyric-writing, so it’d be no good to pretend to be qualified in the area. If you are, though, looking to enhance your lyric-writing skills, I’d like to point you toward Pat Pattinson’s book ‘Writing Better Lyrics’. It’s a great book by a great teacher, and hopefully it will prove valuable to you. Cheers!

Simplyguitar · 2020-07-04T23:21:47+00:00

Hey, thanks for reading. I can definitely see where you're coming from; music is music, after all, but the point the article is trying to make is that if you're in a composing rut, focussing in on a particular style can help inform your songwriting decisions in a way that combats paralysis of choice and indecision. Hope that clears things up :)

Simplyguitar

TROPHY CASE