Rhythm vs Beat

[ZoCrowes]

They are not the same thing dammit!! This has really been getting on my nerves lately. My brother says "I like the beat of this song" and then will proceed to start talking about the rhythm. I'm starting to hear it more and more lately too and it is one of those wierd things that annoys the fucking hell out of me.

The beat is the timing the 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4. It's what white people have a hard time clapping along to. RHYTHM is the portion of the song that has inflection on the beat and distinct changes in the structure of the song. You have rhythm guitar players not beat guitar players. Drummers do both.

rhythm-The pattern of musical movement through time.
A specific kind of such a pattern, formed by a series of notes differing in duration and stress: a waltz rhythm.

beat- To mark or count (time), especially with the hands

[fob]

1. OK. Now what the hell is a "Key"?

And relate it to a bass guitar.

I know the notes go A through G, with associated sharps and flats between. Standard tuning is EADG. What the hell does Key refer to?

[ZoCrowes]

5. Key is

the tonic, or root, of the song. It's basically the note that all the other notes in the song have to relate to. A song that is in the key of G has the tonic, or root, of G and usually a dominant or V (for G it's D) and a sub dominant, or IV (for G it is C.) I, V, IV is pretty the basis for rock n roll. Basically it is where that falls in the major of minor scale of the tonic

For example the C Major scale is

I ii iii IV V vi vii

C Dm Em F G Am Bm

And the first five chords in that are Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. If you wanted to bass in the same key as that song most bassist will just follow the chord progression and play the root of the chord. For example if I played a Dm chord you would play a D. A lot of bassist though will play small riffs based around the root note and the chord currently being played.

Like in Rain by the Beatles when the chord is G Mcarntey will play this riff

G------12----------------------
D----------10--12---10--12-----------
A-10----------------------------
E----------------------------

While the guitar is playing a G chord McCartney is playing G, G, C, D, C, D on his bass

I hope this was not too confusing. This pretty much skims the surface of music theory and chord construction. I understand most of it but I am pretty much a selftaught musician so there might be some inconsistancies in here but that is pretty much how I understand it

[fob]

6. You lost me a little bit. You started with "the Key of G" and then went

to the C Major scale.

By the Tonic or Root do you mean the I note? Or the V note? Is the C Major scale in the KEY of G because the V note is G? Is it just different ways of referring to the same thing?

Have my questions made it clear that I don't understand?

[ZoCrowes]

8. Well

I switched keys there on you however you seemed to pick up the basics.

The Tonic is the I. C Major is related to G however they are different keys. If I can find it I'll try to find a diagram of the circle of V's. It shows how all the keys are related.

Basically key is the tonic or I or root note of the song. Usually that is the chord or note that is used the most throughout. Like if I have a chord progression of G, C, D then the song is in the key of G. It's a I, IV, V.

Hope this helps some I have a hard time explaining it in writing. I could probably make it a little cleared if you were sitting here in front of me with a bass or guitar.

[fob]

10. Aha! The plot thinnens. I have heard of the Circle of Fifth's.

I don't recall exactly how it goes but I know what to look for.

So here's my next question; In the Blues Brothers, when the band is at Bob's Country Bunker and Gimme Some Livin' doesn't go over too well, they get together and say "What are we gonna do now?". They come up with Theme from Rawhide, and the one guy says "What key?", and the bassist (I think) says "A, a good country key". How does that give them the info necessary to play a song?

Aren't the notes you play the same regardless of the key? Or is it the position (I,V,IV) that stays the same and the notes (G,C,D) that change?

[ZoCrowes]

11. Exactly

The notes will change depending on the tonic however a I iii V etc are all going to stay the same. It's just the notes that comprimise those change.

Rawhide is just a country waltz that follows a I IV V pattern (as most folk music forms do) if you know the tonic you can figure out the rest.

When Ray Charles would lead his band through rehersal he would yell out a key change to them. The pattern of the song would stay the same it is just that the notes that are played would change based on the different keys.

[fob]

12. So "Key" means "play the following pattern starting with

(fill in name of Key)" until I yell out a different starting point and play the same pattern starting with whatever that note is.


Play 4 times
G-------------
D-------------
A-----2202----
E-0034--------


Play 2 times
G-------------
D-----2202----
A-0034--------
E-------------

Is the above a Key change?



Play 2 times
G-------------
D-------------
A-----2202----
E-0034--------


Play 1 time
G-------------
D-----4464----
A-2256--------
E-------------

Or is that the key change?

Tab is for Little Sister by E. Presley

[billyskank]

13. You guitar players have it tough

If you're reading music from a score, it's easy to tell: they key is given by the key signature. You know when the key changes because a new signature mark appears in the score!

[ZoCrowes]

15. Can't sightread

to save my life. Wish I could though would make life a lot easier sometimes. Everything I know I figured out on my own or had a friend who gave me a hand grasping some of the harder concepts

[ZoCrowes]

14. That is all in the key of E

It going from E to A to B which is a I (E) IV(A) V(B)

Now if you were to do this

-------------------------
-------------------------
----------3-3-5-3------------
-3-3-6-7---------------------

That would be changing the key to G because the I is now G the IV is now C and the V is now D (not shown)

Basically is determined by the I and in most songs it does not change.

[fob]

16. OK. I'll have to read up further. Thanks for taking the time and the

info.

Peace.

[TaleWgnDg]

2. Wow, you can't *beat* THAT *rhythm* !! n/t

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. Yeah - but I make awesome beats!

[Ron Green]

7. It's the Devil's own machine!!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

9. yeah!

:evilgrin:

[Califooyah Operative]

18. haha, thats hardcore. nt

[htuttle]

4. "It's not the notes, it's the spaces between the notes that matter"

Old saying.

Rhythm is what happens between the beats, I think.

[Califooyah Operative]

17. sometimes....

I know what you mean by beat and rhythm, but a beat is also the instrumental track behind the vocals. I make better beat's then everyone....sorry to brag...but i do. hehe

[jus_the_facts]

19. oh hell...just PLAY....

...and keep lookin' good while yer doin' it! :evilgrin:

:hi: