Lesson 12: Eighth Notes and Faster Rhythms
- Play even pairs of eighth notes at a steady tempo.
- Play a melody whose character depends on rhythmic evenness.
- Lesson 11 — F#.
- Lesson 6 — rhythm reading.
- Eighth-note rhythms.
- Faster pulse subdivision.
Speed is rhythmic accuracy at tempo, not faster fingers.
Eighth notes are two to the beat. The two-syllable count is “one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and,” or in the syllables you met in Lesson 6, ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti. The challenge is not finger speed — it is rhythmic evenness. Most beginners play eighth notes long-short, long-short by accident, because the tongue lingers on the downbeat. This lesson is about catching that habit. Articulate each eighth with the too/doo family from Lesson 8.
First bar in quarters, second bar the same notes in eighths. Match the durations exactly: each eighth should be half as long as its quarter neighbour, no longer.
Eight eighth notes in a row, ascending the C major scale. The metronome is your only judge.
Play: Lightly Row
A German folk song whose energy lives entirely in the eighth-note pairs at the ends of phrases. If those eighths are not crisp and even, the melody sags.
The pattern of four eighths followed by quarters is the heartbeat of this kind of folk melody.
Now play these
- Lightly Row (full)
- Both phrases. Listen for whether the eighth-note pairs sound even or limp.
- When the Saints Go Marching In
- A march full of dotted-quarter / eighth groupings — preview for the next lesson, but the eighths still need to be even within each pair.
- London Bridge
- Take it faster than last lesson. Use the metronome.
When eight ascending eighth notes against a metronome sound metronomic, move on to Lesson 13.
For a slow-up tempo practice strategy, see learning a piece.