What to listen for in music: Rhythm
Rhythm is undoubtedly the oldest element of music. Most historians agree that music began with pure rhythms. Of course, unlike today, the earliest forms of music were not divided into more euphonious metrical patterns. These patterns include the ubiquitous 4/4 (common) meter and 3/4. More uncommon (compound) meters include 5/4, 7/8, and in some cases composers use additive meters such as 3+2/4.
When listening to most popular music, it is usually possible to distinguish a clear metrical pattern, whether it be a duple or a triple meter. Duple meters occur in multiples of 2, whereas triple meters are multiples of 3. In popular music, it is common practice to place accents on the second and fourth beats of a duple measure.
However, displaced accents can make even common meters sound erratic and unrecognizable. The primal example of this is found in the works of Stravinsky, specifically his score for The Rite of Spring. In the "Dance of the Adolescents," he uses irregularly placed accents from a startling eight French horns, along with highly dissonant chords, to invoke the image of exhilarating dance.
Another good example, which unfortunately I can't print here, is Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony, in which he creates a very convincing waltz feel in 5/4 meter, stressing the first and third beats: ONE - two - THREE - four - five.
Besides displacing the strong beats of a meter, it is also possible to set a duple meter against a triple meter, thus creating what is called a polyrhythm. Gershwin's appropriately named Fascinating Rhythm made heavy use of polyrhythms, setting a 3/4 meter in the right hand with cut time in the left:
When listening to music, be sure to pay special attention to rhythms, and where the accents are. You probably already do this with familiar, simple rhythms, so the next step is to listen to more complex and fascinating rhythms.
Recommended listening:
- Bach — The Italian Concerto
- Tchaikovsky — Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique)
- Stravinsky — The Rite of Spring
- Ives — Emerson Piano Concerto
- Adams — Short Ride in a Fast Machine