Music Video Lesson: All Beats are NOT Created Equal

Start thinking about where are the strong beats in your music? Usually the 1 is the strongest beat in most music, and even that is not always true.

Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com. The subject today is, All Beats are NOT Created Equal. This almost sounds like blasphemy, but it's absolutely true. And the beats don't mind at all.

So what am I talking about here? Well it depends upon the nature of a piece of music, the time signature, the period style, and so many other things. And I'm going to show it to you today by telling you three pieces, all in three, but with completely different emphasis on the beat.

So there are different types of emphasis that you naturally have. Pieces in 4 -4, for example, are not 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, but it's usually 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1-2-3-4. So you have 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4. So the 1 is the strongest beat, the 3 is the second strongest beat, and the 4 is the weakest beat, 1 -2 -3 -4, 1 -2 -3 -4. So if you were to play that with all the beats being equal, instead of with the emphasis on 1 and 3, you can hear the elegance already. What better way to show how beats are not equal than in a dance movement? Because when people are moving to music, there are different motions that they're making depending upon what beat is playing.

And so dance forms, and there are many, many different dance forms in music, are a great way to demonstrate this. And I'm going to use the famous B minor waltz of Chopin. And I'm going to show it to you. And just so you know which waltz I'm talking about. And I'm going to use the famous B minor waltz of Chopin. And I'm going to show it to you. And this, just so you know which waltz I'm talking about.

So that's the beginning of the B minor waltz of Chopin. And I'm going to count it. And you'll hear how the 1 is the strongest beat, and the 3 is the second strongest beat. Boy, I hope you enjoy.

So you could see 1 -3 -1 -2 -3 -1 -2 -3 and you just imagine a ballroom filled with people dancing the waltz and you imagine those the one is the big motion and three is the second biggest motion bringing you back to the one and you understand intrinsically the idea that all beats are not created equal. Some beats are stronger than others.

Interestingly other pieces in 3 -4 time have different emphasis. For example in the famous Mozart C major sonata that I played the beginning of the moment ago the second movement is in 3 -4 time and here you have and here now you have 1 -2 -3 -1 -2 -3 -1 -2 -3 -1 -2 -3. So it's a slower tempo of course and there is a little bit of emphasis on the one but not like a waltz 3-1-2-3-1-2-3. 3 -1 -2 -3 -1-2 or Mozart the last movement of the C minor sonata because this is a faster one like the Chopin watlzes but a completely different emphasis of beats. 3 -1-2-let me just play it without counting first. So now counting with a tri grabbing the open and closing, we got him swinging down the counting… 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3. It's two measure phrases, really, with an emphasis every two measures.

So the beats aren't created equal, not just in emphasis, but even in the amount of time they get to a small extent, like in the walls. 3… 1, 2… 3… 1, 2… 3… 1, 2… 3… 1, 2… 3… 1, 2… You know, the famous Blue Danube.

1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2… You can hear that they're not equal, they're not exactly equal. There's a certain style to dance movements in particular that create an energy and emotion. And this is true of just about all music. It's very rare to have a piece where all the beats are exactly the same, any more than the intonation of speech when you're speaking is all the same and all the words. It's a rare quality. And in your music, start thinking about where are the strong beats in your music? Usually, the one is the strongest beat in most music, and even that is not always true. As you'll discover, as you experiment with your music to see where the strong beats are, leave your comments and suggestions and any observations you have about this here at LivingPianos.com, your online piano resource, as well as YouTube. Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin. We'll see you next time.

Find the original source of this video at this link: https://livingpianos.com/all-beats-are-not-created-equal/

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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