Lesson 12: Completing a Rhythm

This is a question which you must prepare thoroughly, because it’s always included and it’s worth ten points, or 10% of the whole exam!

You need to write a complete four-bar rhythm using the given opening.

You’ll be given one complete bar including the time signature, so you need to write three more bars.

You don’t need to write a tune, only the rhythm.

Here’s an example:
Write a complete four-bar rhythm in 9/8 time using the given opening.

Tips

1. Notice the time signature and make sure that each bar you write has the right number of beats.
2. Check that beamed notes (quavers, semiquavers and demisemiquavers) are grouped correctly.
3. Don’t just repeat exactly what you already have in any bar.
4. Don’t write something that’s completely different to any bar.

Tips one and two are straightforward, but tips three and four are a little bit more difficult to get right. You need to write something which is similar to bar one, but not the same and not very different. It can be hard to get that right, so make sure you do lots of practice!

Some ways you can achieve this:

• As you write each bar, keep some of the rhythmic patterns from the previous bar, but
  not all of them. You can change half to ? of  the bar, for example:
  

• Change the order of some of the groups of notes:
  
  (The groups are numbered to show you how the order has changed.)

• Don’t write things like lots of triplets, dotted/tied notes or syncopation UNLESS there was some in the first bar. You need to keep the character of the rhythm the same all the way through.
• Don’t feel that you have to “show off” by writing every single different note value/rests, or anything else. It’s more important to keep the character of the rhythm.
• Use long-short patterns and not short-long ones (see lesson 8 for more on this).
• Use a reasonably long note to end the composition. (Don’t end on a semiquaver or demisemiquaver.)
  
  
  

Here’s a possible answer to the above question:

Notice how the same patterns get reused, but not in exactly the same way. We used a dotted note in the 4th bar, but it’s not a “new” rhythm – it’s the same value as the tied quaver + semiquaver in bars 1 and 2.

Dealing with Upbeats

If the piece starts on an upbeat, the first bar will not be complete. For example, this rhythm in 4/4 starts on an upbeat - there is just one crotchet in the first bar:

Make sure the last bar of your piece is also incomplete – the last bar and the first bar added together should make one complete bar. In our example, our last bar should contain 3 beats (not 4).