Phrases
A rhythm can be a conversation: one bar asks, the next answers. Leaving the answer out is how everyone knows it was there.
From theory: Western theory: note values
In notation: bar two begins with a quarter rest: the pause between the call and the answer. Seeing the rest on the page shows that the silence has a length.
- Say it as words: “shave and a hair-cut”.
- Clap only the words. Leave a gap for the rest.
- Clap the answer, “two bits”, in the gap.
- Play the first bar and stop. Feel the answer still waiting.
The rest is part of the rhythm. A hit is a hit; the silence before the next one has a length too.
Before you go on
- Say and clap the whole phrase with the click
- Play the call and let someone else answer
- Make up your own two-bar call and answer from steps
Play it on your instrument
You have been clapping this. On an instrument it is the same rhythm, with each clap played as a note or stroke while you keep tapping the count.
- Drums: A fill is the answer to the groove's question: call, then a one-beat reply. The one-beat fill
Every lesson on every instrument: Take it to your instrument.