-
Pitch
Pitch is the sound that a note makes. Not all musical instruments make notes with a clear pitch; percussion instruments are often distinguished by whether they do or do not have a particular pitch. A sound or note of definite pitch is one of which it is possible or relatively easy to discern the pitch.…
-
Action
Action is the strings’ playablility along the neck. Action is affected by the strings’ distance from the neck, the neck straightness, and string gauge.
-
Tempo
The tempo is how fast or slow the song is. It is measured by beats per minute (bpm). 60 bpm is a slow tempo. 130 bpm is moderately fast. 160 bpm is fast.
-
Rhythm
Rhythm is the duration of time that the note is sounded or a variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. Standard music notation contains rhythmic information and is adapted specifically for drums and percussion instruments. The drums are generally used to keep other instruments in ‘time’. They do…
-
Measures
When writing music down on paper for other musicians to play the music is divided into what is called measures. The measures are divided with vertical lines. The lines that musical notes are placed on are called staffs. Can you see the vertical lines in the music staff below? Same thing here in this tablature staff: Note:…
-
Polymeter/Polyrhythm
Although sometimes used synonymously, polymeter is the use of two metric frameworks (time signatures) simultaneously, while polyrhythm refers to the simultaneous use of two or more different patterns, which may be in the same time-signature. Research into the perception of polymeter shows that listeners often either extract a composite pattern that is fitted to a…