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Thread: What are sixteenth and eighth notes and stuff?

  1. #1

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    Default What are sixteenth and eighth notes and stuff?

    i need help with whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and 30 second notes its a bit embarressing but i have a book on it and it doesnt explain it very well so if u could help me it would be much appreciated thanks drummers.

  2. #2

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    Question What are sixteenth and eighth notes and stuff?

    Hey, Lucas! Welcome to the forum!

    Here's a quick review of the notes (you might also want to check some of the lessons available at drumbum.com)...better still would be to review it with a drum teacher near you or someone who knows drumming, since it's hard to explain in words alone.

    First, time signatures (such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4): In short, the top number is the number of beats found in each measure, and the lower number is the note which is counted as one beat. For example, in 4/4 time, there are four notes, with each note getting one beat. In this case, it's a quarter note.

    Now, the notes:

    In 4/4 time, a whole note gets all four counts. (In drumming, since you can't hold notes like you can on say, a piano, there's one note, as, "boom" (two-three-four), "boom" (two-three-four). Not the best example, but...

    Half notes, in this example, get two counts...it would sound like "boom"-two-"boom"-four...

    Quarter notes get one count, and it would count one-two-three-four, boom-boom, boom, boom.

    Eighth notes get 1/2-count each, and would count "one & two & three &"; sixteenth notes are 1/4 count each, and count as "one-ee-and-uh-two-ee-and-uh-three-ee-and-uh-four-ee-and-uh." I will not try to count 32nd notes, but obviously they would be twice as fast as sixteenth notes.

    Most drum books I've studied have a beginner's or review section that has this information printed much the way I have it, plus the graphics for each note. Hope this is a good start, but again, one-on-one instruction--and definitely practice--will make the notes easier to read.

    Good luck, mate!

    keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!

    Charlie

    "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854

    "There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi

    "Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck

  3. #3

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    well a whole measure is 4 beats. so a whole note is the whole thing, so its 4 beats. a half note is only 2 because its half. a quarter note is 1/4 of the measure, so its 1 beat. an eighth note is half a beat and a sixteenth note is a 4th of a beat. so u can play sixteen sixteenth notes in a measure, eight eights notes, etc. just imagine it like fractions. soo:

    whole - 4 beats
    half - 2 beats
    quarter - 1 beat
    eighth - 1/2 beat
    sixteenth - 1/4 beat

    hope this helps
    -Leslie (aka Lezzle..)

    If in any way I show signs of stupidity or lack of intellegence, this is why:

    Blond + Drummer =

  4. #4

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    whoa bongobro posted like the second before me.. wow lol
    -Leslie (aka Lezzle..)

    If in any way I show signs of stupidity or lack of intellegence, this is why:

    Blond + Drummer =

  5. #5

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    tip for 16th notes...
    1 e and a 2 e and a takes too long to say..so just go

    1 *tap tap tap* 2 *tap tap tap* while also tapping on the count
    LucidDrummer212, Taking over the drumchat forums 1 post at a time...

    myspace.com/rdsspike345

  6. #6

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    i find that harder, the 1 tap tap tap thing
    1 e and a 2 e and a just rolls off ur tounge its easier to say for me
    -Leslie (aka Lezzle..)

    If in any way I show signs of stupidity or lack of intellegence, this is why:

    Blond + Drummer =

  7. #7

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    I might add that if you think of it like dividing up a pie into even slices, it helps understand it. For example, you can cut a pie down the middle and you have two halves (half notes). You can then cut one of those halves into two even pieces. That leaves you with one half (half note) on one side and two quarters (quarter notes) on the other side. So a half and two quarters equal a whole (whole note). And so on.

    I've always liked this method of teaching because it paints a mental picture to draw from. It helps those of us that learn more visually.

  8. #8

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    yeah thanx guys that really helps me out its just that the book doesnt explain it well

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