Identifying 8th Note Rhythms
There is a simple system for identifying any note’s position in a bar by naming notes off the beat according to which beat they come directly after. The system works as follows. Within a bar of continuous eighth notes in * time, there are eight possible places where notes could occur.
The first beat is called one (1), the next eighth note is called the “and of one”, then comes beat two, the next eighth note is called the “and of two”, then beat three, followed by the “and of three”, then beat four, followed by the “and of four” which is the final eighth note in the bar. These positions are shown in the notation below.
This system is particularly useful if you are having trouble with the timing of a rhythm. You simply identify where the notes occur in relation to each beat and then count them slowly until you have memorized the rhythm. Here is how the system can be used to analyze rhythms. In the right hand part of the following example, the chords are played on 1 and the + of 2. In the left hand part, the notes are played on 1, the + of 2, the and of 3, 4 and the + of 4.
