Lesson 07 Eighth notes and half notes
- Practice
- 4/4
- 60 bpm
- 8 bars
- 31 claps
About this exercise
This exercise puts the shortest and the longest notes you know so far side by side: four eighth notes followed by a half note, or the other way round. The contrast is the point of the lesson: after four quick claps, your hands must stop and stay together for two whole beats.
Notice bars 1 and 2, which mirror each other (eighth notes then half note, then half note then eighth notes). On the half note at the start of bar 2, count "1, 2" inside before releasing the eighth notes on beat 3.
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How to play it
- Count-in: the site counts 1 bar before starting ("1 2 3 4"). Clap the first note on beat 1 of bar 1.
- Reading: read the line on the yellow strip and look ahead to the next one: that's how you read ahead.
- Hands together: on notes longer than 1 beat (half note and whole note) clap and keep your hands together until the end of the note: hands together = the sound keeps going.
- Eighth notes: count "1 & 2 &"; the "&" falls exactly in the middle of the beat.
How to practice
- Say the count out loud, without clapping, looking at the Bar by bar table.
- In Together mode, count and clap at the same time as the character.
- In Your turn mode, clap on your own. If it's hard, slow down and then come back.
Bar by bar
Bold = clap · (n) = don't clap, the sound keeps going (hands together) · [n] = rest, hands open.
| Bar | Notes | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 eighth notes, half note | 1 & 2 & 3 (4) |
| 2 | half note, 4 eighth notes | 1 (2) 3 & 4 & |
| 3 | 2 eighth notes, quarter note, half note | 1 & 2 3 (4) |
| 4 | half note, 2 quarter notes | 1 (2) 3 4 |
| 5 | quarter note, 2 eighth notes, half note | 1 2 & 3 (4) |
| 6 | half note, 2 eighth notes, quarter note | 1 (2) 3 & 4 |
| 7 | 4 eighth notes, half note | 1 & 2 & 3 (4) |
| 8 | whole note | 1 (2) (3) (4) |
Notes used: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note.