The first half of the course focuses on building rhythmic fluency without the use of standard musical notation. Through weekly sessions that incorporate movement, vocalization, and body percussion, you will learn to internalize pulse, leading to rhythmic accuracy and confidence in ensemble and solo performance situations.

The second half of the course is an in-depth exploration of standard rhythmic notation from the ground up. Building on the skills gained in the first half of the course, we will explore increasingly complex material in simple, compound, and complex meters.

Throughout the semester, you will complete performance, listening, and dictation exercises to synthesize what you have learned and hone your skills. Performance exercises will give you the opportunity to perform with greater confidence and awareness. Through listening exercises you will develop the ability to navigate musical landscapes of varying complexity both as a listener and a performer and dictation exercises will enable you to learn to categorize and label rhythmic material.

By the end of the semester, you will be able to internalize and perform subdivisions, hemiolas, syncopations, polyrhythms, and rhythms in changing meters in solo and ensemble situations while remaining relaxed and rhythmically accurate.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Maintain a steady pulse in duple, triple, and quadruple subdivisions
• Perform simple hemiolas and polyrhythms in duple, triple, and quadruple subdivisions
• Aurally recognize simple, compound, and complex meters
• Accurately perform notated music utilizing standard rhythmic devices in simple, compound, and complex meters
• Fluently notate standard rhythmic devices in simple, compound, and complex meters
• Utilize a metronome as a practice tool in a variety of settings – on the beat, off the beat, every other beat, on four beats / off four beats, etc.

Syllabus

Lesson 1 Internal Pulse

Lesson 2 Meter: Simple and Compound

Lesson 3 Shifting Accents and Simple Hemiolas

Lesson 4 Syncopation and Larger Hemiolas

Lesson 5 Complex Meter (5, 7, 9)

Lesson 6 Shifting Meters over a Steady Pulse / Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring

Lesson 7 Building Blocks of Rhythmic Notation/Simple Meter and Associated Time Signatures

Lesson 8 Compound Meter and Associated Time Signatures/Advanced Metronome Techniques

Lesson 9 Tuplets in Simple and Compound Meters / More Advanced Metronome Techniques

Lesson 10 Triplets and Faster Subdivisions in Compound Meter / Syncopation in Simple Meter

Lesson 11 Complex Meters and Their Associated Time Signatures

Lesson 12 Shifting Time Signatures—An Introduction

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements

• This course does not have any prerequisites.

Required Textbook(s)

• Basics in Rhythm by Garwood Whaley

Software Requirements(s)

• A basic Digital Audio Workstation (GarageBand, Audacity, or similar would be fine)
• Music notation software (Sibelius, Finale, Dorico, MuseScore, etc.) or the ability to scan hand-written examples
• Advanced Metronome
  • Hardware or Software/App is acceptable
  • Recommended software options: SoundBrenner (free), Tempo Advanced, or GrooveLoop

Instructors

Matt Sharrock

Author & Instructor

Hailed as one of “Boston’s best percussionists” by I Care if You Listen, Matt Sharrock is a versatile marimbist, percussionist, and conductor who tirelessly champions the music of living composers. As half of the bass clarinet/marimba duo Transient Canvas, they have commissioned over 80 pieces while touring extensively in the United States and abroad. From 2013-2020 they served as Music Director and conductor for Equilibrium and are a founding member of the mixed quartet Hinge and the Boston Percussion Group. In demand as a chamber musician, Matt is the resident percussionist with the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston and has performed with the Lydian String Quartet, Boston Musica Viva, Sound Icon, the Lorelei Ensemble, and Dinosaur Annex, among others. As an orchestral percussionist, Matt can be heard regularly with the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, the Orchestra of Indian Hill, and the Grammy-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project. They have recorded on Beauport Classical, BMOP/sound, Innova, Navona, New Focus, and Ravello record labels. They teach music theory and liberal arts at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and Berklee College of Music. Matt proudly endorses Marimba One and Encore Mallets. For more information, visit www.mattsharrock.com

What’s Next?

When taken for credit, Time and Rhythm 1 can be applied towards these associated programs:

Associated Certificate Programs

• General Music Studies Professional Certificate
• General Music Studies Advanced Professional Certificate

Associated Degree Majors

• Bachelor’s Degree in Music Business
• Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Music Studies (Create Your Own Major)
• Bachelor’s Degree in Electronic Music Production and Sound Design