Lesson 12: Eighth Notes and Faster Rhythms
- Play even pairs of eighth notes at a steady tempo.
- Keep the eighth notes even in a short song.
Two equal notes fit inside each beat.
Review Lesson 6: two eighth notes fit one quarter-note beat. Tap a slow beat and say “one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and”, keeping every gap equal.
Clap the rhythm first, then play without changing the speed of the beat.
Set a slow quarter-note click, then place one note on each click and one halfway between.
Play: Rain, Rain, Go Away
Keep this published three-note chant’s repeated eighth notes even.
Sarrazin, Music and the Child (2016); transposed reading, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
Now play these
- Rain, Rain, Go Away (full)
- Keep each eighth note half as long as a quarter note.
- Lightly Row
- Crotchets, half notes and whole notes contrast with today’s eighth notes.
- Old MacDonald
- Keep the animal-call eighth notes even and count the written rest.
When the scale and Rain, Rain keep two equal notes per click, move on to Lesson 13.