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Rhythm Reading
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Lesson 08 Eighth notes and rests

  • Practice
  • 4/4
  • 66 bpm
  • 8 bars
  • 27 claps
66 bpm

About this exercise

The rests from Beginner 1 come back, now mixed with eighth notes. Bar 1 already shows the idea: two eighth notes and one beat of silence, twice. In several bars the rest comes right after the quick claps, and bar 5 starts with a quarter note and a rest before the eighth notes.

The tempo goes up to 66 bpm. Be careful not to "swallow" the rest: after two eighth notes, your hands open and stay open for a whole beat. Count "1 & (2)" with the 2 said quietly, without clapping.

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How to play it

  1. Count-in: the site counts 1 bar before starting ("1 2 3 4"). Clap the first note on beat 1 of bar 1.
  2. Reading: read the line on the yellow strip and look ahead to the next one: that's how you read ahead.
  3. 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.
  4. Rests: hands open, no clapping, and keep counting in silence.
  5. Eighth notes: count "1 & 2 &"; the "&" falls exactly in the middle of the beat.

How to practice

  1. Say the count out loud, without clapping, looking at the Bar by bar table.
  2. In Together mode, count and clap at the same time as the character.
  3. In Your turn mode, clap on your own. If it's hard, slow down and then come back.

Goal: ★★★ three times in a row at 66 bpm. Then the lesson is completed.

The full practice method →

Bar by bar

Bold = clap · (n) = don't clap, the sound keeps going (hands together) · [n] = rest, hands open.

Bar Notes Count
1 2 eighth notes, quarter rest, 2 eighth notes, quarter rest 1 & [2] 3 & [4]
2 quarter rest, 2 eighth notes, 2 quarter notes [1] 2 & 3 4
3 4 eighth notes, quarter note, quarter rest 1 & 2 & 3 [4]
4 half note, half rest 1 (2) [3] [4]
5 quarter note, quarter rest, 2 eighth notes, quarter note 1 [2] 3 & 4
6 2 eighth notes, quarter note, quarter rest, quarter note 1 & 2 [3] 4
7 4 eighth notes, half rest 1 & 2 & [3] [4]
8 whole note 1 (2) (3) (4)

Notes used: whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, half rest, quarter rest.