Rhythms in Piano Reading

Here's a tremendous hint - actually an advanced technique that I'm giving you right now! The trick to reading difficult rhythms is to sub-divide the note or notes in the difficult passages.

Question: What does subdivide mean?

Answer:, With rhythms, as far as counting goes, it's simply arithmetic and mostly "fractions". Things like 2/4 = 1/2 that type of thing and in that example it really says that 2/4 = 2 1/4 or quarter notes = 1/4 or one 1/4 note called a quarter note. So these type of Equivalency groupings. To sub-divide a note or group of notes means to break down into a smaller value.

Example: Exericse - subdivide four 1/4 notes into 1/8th notes Answer: This will get you 4 sets of 1/8 notes!

Why should we do this? Well if the quarter notes are followed by 1/8's, it helps you get the feel of the 1/8th note. Likewise, if you have a syncopated rhythm = off the beat, you will want to sub-divide to make it easier to count.

Here's an example if the passage is

1/4 note, 1/4 note 1/4 note 1/4 note, we subdivide and so we'll count it as 1& 2& 3& 4& which means each quarter note is in reality, being subdivided into 1/8 notes, = 2 1/8 notes where the count of 1 is on the beat and the "and" occurs off the beat.