Rhythm Analysis & Design

古典音樂理論有「三要素」與「五要素」兩說，三要素指：旋律、和聲、節奏。五要素再加上：音色配器、曲式。

如將音樂作品視為人類心靈創作的藝術觀，各音樂要素如果擬人化，旋律就是骨架、和聲是血肉、節奏是行為，音色配器是服飾與佩件，而曲式則為此人角色與活動環境的全設計。 

節奏 Rhythm =

１、拍子+
２、強弱﹙切分﹚+
３、速度的變化+
４、時值﹙音符長短﹚的安排﹙不一定是１小節﹚+
５、結合絃律「動機」的基本單位+
６、結合各種樂器﹙不只鼓、貝司﹚所演奏的各種音型﹙以上１至５項﹚+
７、在有統一感的和聲進行中，又有彈性、豐富、個人化的自由發揮﹙無一定規律﹚+
８、人類受到自然感應，情緒與軀體的律動方式

=音樂的「行為」，即音樂個性與動態的呈現。

節奏與旋律的關係，呈現「統一」與「變化」的對稱關係，旋律會有「起承轉合」的變化，節奏可能保持統一，或者至少在「起承合」，負責行為的一致。正如詞要講究「韻」，「意」的變化無方，但「韻」就可對稱、收斂出統一之感。

對節奏的感受，正如對「美學」的感受，也是一種「青山綠水」的過程。

Introduction

The following section is a brief introduction from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. When governed by rule, it is called meter. It is inherent in any time-dependent medium, but it is most associated with music, dance, and the majority of poetry. The study of rhythm, stress, and pitch in speech is called prosody; it is a topic in linguistics. All musicians, instrumentalists and vocalists, work with rhythm, but it is often considered the primary domain of drummers and percussionists.

In Western music, rhythms are usually arranged with respect to a time signature, partially signifying a meter. The speed of the underlying pulse, called the beat, is the tempo. The tempo is usually measured in 'beats per minute' (bpm); 60 bpm means a speed of one beat per second. The length of the meter, or metric unit (usually corresponding with measure length), is divided almost exclusively into either two or three beats, being called duple meter and triple meter, respectively. If each beat is further divided by two it is simple meter, if by three compound meter.

Some genres of music make different use of rhythm than others. Most Western music is based on divisive rhythm, while non-Western music uses more additive rhythm. African music makes heavy use of polyrhythms, and Indian music uses complex cycles such as 7 and 13, while Balinese music often uses complex interlocking rhythms. By comparison, a lot of Western classical music is fairly rhythmically simple; it stays in a simple meter such as 4/4 or 3/4 and makes little use of syncopation. In the 20th century, composers like Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich wrote more rhythmically complex music using odd meters, and techniques such as phasing and additive rhythm. At the same time, modernists such as Olivier Messiaen and his pupils used increased complexity to disrupt the sense of a regular beat, leading eventually to the widespread use of irrational rhythms in New Complexity.

A rhythm section generally consists of percussion instruments, and possibly chordal instruments (e.g., guitar, banjo) and keyboard instruments, such as piano (which, by the way, may be classified as any of these three types of instruments).

Rhythms' Categories/Genres and Examples

節奏沒有固定公式，但有個基本型，而其變化是非常個人化。以下簡介一般相對被公認的基本型。

Rhythms' categories are various, changing, without clear-cut definition, and could be perceived very personally.

Wu, TX wants to focus on the 'Songs' Rhythms', to conclude a simple and comprehensive frameworks, and to explain the category by the substantial differences of basic beats and tempos as follows. However, the practice could be more complicated than the examples.

Symbols 節奏符號圖示/改良統雄節奏圖示

節奏符號圖示，原始與五綫譜無異，但在受文書軟體限制時，一般用【X】表示。

統雄老師在編曲經驗中發現，必須再做細膩區分，故提供改良【統雄節奏圖示】如下。

X: Bass Drum/Side Kick/Bass -strong 強發音：碰

x:  Bass Drum/Side Kick/Tom-Tom/中低音打擊樂器 -medium 中發音：砰

V: Snare /各式 Cymbal/Guitar strum/高音打擊樂器  強發音：答

v: Ride Cymbal/Hi-hat/吉他、鋼琴等 block chords  中低發音：恰

0: rest 休止符 發音：嗯

-: 長拍，通常為4分音符 發音：持續前音

_: 底線，表示8分音符...等

Bass Drum：是 concert bass drum 的簡稱，通常是西方古典樂團的標準樂器，以鼓棍敲打演奏，演奏技術較多。可用貝司代替。

Side Kick：是爵士樂團的大鼓，直徑又比一般樂隊用大鼓為短，聲音較尖而實，餘音較短；以腳踩踏板敲打，每次敲打的位置近乎相同，鼓聲較為統一。也可用貝司或其他中低音打擊樂器代替。

Snare：小鼓，可用其他高音打擊樂器代替。在 Soul 等風格中，實為節奏主角。

當節奏快速短促時，經常使用 Ride Cymbal （最大片）或 Hi-hat （上下雙片）為主要節奏。可用吉他、鋼琴等 block chords代替。

如果是【分散和弦】，吉他的1-2-3 弦，代表高音，4-5-6 弦代表低音。

4 Beat Series 四拍子類

以下為各家族的主要常用節奏，都可以在細節上變化、或綜合不同家族再組合。

Slow Family 慢歌家族

Slow : X v v v, X v v xv

Blues：X v x v , X v xv v

Soul：X vx x V

Slow Soul : X vx X vx, X vx xX Vx

Folk：X Xv Xv X , v Xv Xv X

Slow Rock：vvv vvv vvv vvv , -0- vvv -0- vvv , 或更多創意切分，而其低音經常為： X-- --x X-- x-x

Rock / Boogie-Woogie / Jive Family 搖滾家族

特色：強拍加重、切分，強音提前；或休止，造成不穩定之動態。

Rock：X. x X. x ,  X vX 0 vX

Hard Rock：X vX xX v

Heavy Metal： XX vX XX vX

8 Beats：Xv Xv Xx vx

16 Beats：vvvv vvvv vvvv vvvv,  vvvv vvvv vvvv vvv0, 

Funk：XXvx XXv0 X. Xvx X0

Twist：Xx  vv Xx  vv

Folk Rock: X xv xv X, X Xx 0x X

Jazz / Swing Family 爵士家族

Jazz is a musical art form originally developed by African Americans from around the turn of the 20th century. It is characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. As the first original art form to emerge from the United States of America, jazz has been described as "America's Classical Music".

swing rhythm is a convention that the half beats are played not equally as written, but with the first longer than the second and the shorter second note having an accent. Generally the first note of each of these pairs is twice as long as the second, giving a triplet feel. A rhythm that is not swung is called a straight rhythm.

Swing：vvv v0v vvv v0v, X v0v X v,  X V V v0v

Pop：Xv vv X V

Jitterbug (or East Coast Swing, with 6 count) / Jive / West Coast Swing: X v x v

Western / Folk：Xv 0v 0v x

Country：Xv Xv Xv Xv,  Xv Xv xX v

Jazz Rhythm Class

Latin Family 拉丁家族

Latin (or Latin jazz) is the general term given to music that combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz harmonies from the United States.

The two main categories of Latin are Brazilian and Afro-Cuban.

Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa nova and samba.

Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz includes  rumba, bolero (slower rumba), cha cha cha (or Cha Cha), mambo, salsa, merengue, songo, son,  and charanga .

There are other three famous Latin rhythms: Tango (short for Italian Tango), Argentina Tango and Flamenco.

特色：弱拍切分，轉移強音；或休止，造成婉轉、浪漫、懸疑。

Bossa Nova：X Xv 0v 0

Samba : X0 vX Xv vX

Rumba：X vv Xv Xv, X 0 Xv Xx

Beguine：X V v xv xv, Xv 0v Xv 0v

Cha Cha：v v vv v

Tango：v v v vx

Italian Tango/Argentina Tango :  v vx  v v

Flamenco : (triplet) v v X v v X v X v X v X

Soul / Funk / Disco Family 靈魂大家族

Disco：X x X x

R&B / Rap / Hip Hop Family 節奏藍調大家族

R&B/Rap：X. v X. v

3 Beat Series and More