Grammar of Music

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What to study before Brazilian rhythms

Samba, baiao, maracatu, frevo and xote read by what tells them apart: where the accent falls and how the pulse divides. Below, the concepts that come before, in the order in which one explains the next. Signed in, you see the same path minus what you already hold: your path.

  1. Rhythm and meter

    Note values, augmentation dots, tuplets, and the division of time into simple and compound meters.

    Level 0has practicelesson Counting time (First steps in theory)

  2. Syncopation

    The accent moved to where the pulse is not, which is the rhythmic engine of nearly all Brazilian popular music.

    Level 2lesson The accent off the pulse (Reading music)

  3. Brazilian rhythms

    Samba, baiao, maracatu, frevo and xote read by what tells them apart: where the accent falls and how the pulse divides.

    Level 3lesson Where the accent lands (Reading music)