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When shifting between simple meters, the beat never changes. The only thing that changes is how many beats are in each measure. That doesn’t sound so complicated, but you might be surprised. In this video from Berklee Online’s Time and Rhythm course, instructor Matt Sharrock demonstrates with an example of music with different time signatures, which are all written in simple meter. A great tip is to mark the beat in every single measure. Now that you’ve done that you can give the piece a quick read, singing the beat and its subdivisions. Remember, says Sharrock, beat placement within a measure isn’t just arbitrary. It informs how we phrase and inflect the music that we perform. We perform music in 3 differently than we do music in 4, for example. And we tend to feel more comfortable when music is sectional. An entire phrase of music in 3 followed by a phrase of music in 4 is fairly easy to digest (and therefore execute), but when the measures shift constantly from 2 to 3 to 4 to 5, etc., it can be disorienting. While this could be the composer’s intention for the listeners, we can’t afford to be disoriented as a performer. Don’t worry, it just takes a little practice (and annotation!) to get the hang of it.
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ABOUT MATT SHARROCK:
Matt Sharrock is a versatile marimbist, percussionist, and conductor who tirelessly champions the music of living composers. As half of the bass clarinet/marimba duo Transient Canvas, they have commissioned over 80 pieces while touring extensively in the United States and abroad. From 2013-2020 they served as music director and conductor for Equilibrium and are a founding member of the mixed quartet Hinge and the Boston Percussion Group. In demand as a chamber musician, Matt is the resident percussionist with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston and has performed with the Lydian String Quartet, Boston Musica Viva, Sound Icon, the Lorelei Ensemble, and Dinosaur Annex, among others. Matt has recorded on Beauport Classical, BMOP/sound, Innova, Navona, New Focus, and Ravello record labels. They teach music theory and liberal arts at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music. Matt proudly endorses Marimba One and Encore Mallets.
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Time and Rhythm | Subdivisions | Quarter Notes | Sixteenth Notes | Eighth Notes | Matt Sharrock | Transient Canvas | Marimba | Simple Meter | Berklee Online | Berklee College of Music | Boston Conservatory