18 Counting the Beat

Counting the Beat written by John Lockyer

mathematics and music Many of us like music and many of us like mathematics. Some of us like both music and mathematics. That may be because there is a lot of mathematics in music. A pattern is the way we do something. In mathematics we can count in fives. That is a pattern. In music we can count the beats. That is a pattern, too.

beats Put your hand on your chest. Can you feel your heart beating? Can you count each beat? Your heart is making a pattern just like a drumbeat. When you tap your foot or clap your hands to music, you are keeping in time with the beat. Slow music has less beats and fast music has more beats. When music starts, people also like to dance. They hear a beat in the music and move in time with it.

conductor A conductor moves a baton to keep musicians in time with the beat. If the musicians don't keep in time together, the music sounds terrible. The conductor's baton makes it easy for everyone to count the beat. drummer Because there is no conductor in a rock band, the drummer must keep the time. A drummer is like a conductor that you can hear. Drummers make it easy for the band to count the beat.

choir A conductor can count the beat for a choir, too. Some singers in a choir sing high and some sing low. Some sing quietly and others sing loudly. The singers can sing all of a song or just a part. A conductor brings in each singing part at the right time. When all the parts come together the song sounds wonderful.

metronome Sometimes a musician has to play alone. A metronome can help the musician keep in time. As the metronome's arm moves from side to side it makes a ticking sound. This helps the musician count the beat. The beat can be changed for fast music and slow music.