Quarter note and eighth note on one grid
Tempo says how fast the bar goes. Value says how many slots a note takes. The “and” falls halfway through a quarter note.
Adrian5 minupdated
Count “one, two, three, four”. That is four quarter notes in a 4/4 bar. Tempo (BPM) says how fast those numbers come round. Note value says how many of those places one sound takes. Time signature says how many numbers you group into a bar. Here we stay with value.
Eight equal slots
Add “and” halfway to the next number: “one and two and three and four and”. Each word is one slot. A quarter note takes two slots (the number, then the next “and” waits in silence or the sound lasts). An eighth note takes one slot.
| value | slots on the grid | how you count |
|---|---|---|
| quarter note | 2 | one … two |
| eighth note | 1 | one and two and |
The mistake is audible between the numbers
If the “and” creeps towards a number, the eighth notes stop being even. The guitar will not fix that. Count out loud first, then tap eight slots, and only then add a grip.
The arrows sit on the same grid
With an eighth-note strum the number is a downstroke, the “and” is the return. The pattern decides which of the eight slots hit the strings. An empty slot is the same movement without sound, not a break in the counting.
A rest occupies a slot just like a note, only without sound. Dots, ties and sixteenths will turn up with a specific song. They are not needed here.
Do this now
Rhythm, pattern D-DU-UDU. Count out loud with the pattern.
The tool shows whether the “and” leaves the halfway point. That is a direction, not a 20 of 24 pass mark.
Measure: you can hear the “and” halfway, and the strip does not chase the numbers.
Then Panie Janie: turn highlighting on and count. Some syllables last a quarter note, some an eighth. You can slow the song tempo.
Play this
two songs, two densitiesMary Had a Little Lamb moves in quarter notes and eighths, so counting “one and two and” covers the tune. Yankee Doodle is also in 4/4: the same grid, a denser melody, not a different time signature.
Read more
- The Only Guitar Book You'll Ever NeedErnie Jackson and Marc Schonbrun · ch. 4 and 6This book fits the full set of values, rests, dots and ties into one chapter, and it puts the ladder “listen, count, clap, only then play” right beside them.
- Learn & Master GuitarSteve Krenz · sessions 2, 3 and 16The course shows the running order: four values and four rests first, then ties, dots and eighths, with sixteenths held back another fourteen sessions.
- Guitar WisdomTomo Fujita · “Feel Rhythm in Your Body”The author teaches the “and” with no guitar and no metronome: you count out loud, the body goes forward on the number and back on the “and”.
- Note valueWikipediaThe entry gives the values as plain fractions and the strict definition of the dot, which “adds the next briefer note value”.
- musictheory.net lessonsRicci AdamsThe site has separate lessons on note duration, on rest duration, and on dots and ties, each with a browser exercise. There are no adverts.
- StrumWikipediaThe entry sets the three ways of writing a strumming pattern side by side: arrows, D and U letters, and note symbols. They are pictures with no commentary, but you can see it is one notation in three alphabets.