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Welcome to the Beginning Clarinet Songbook

Lesson 7: Rhythm
New Note and Rest Values: Eighth Notes and Eighth Rests

Follow the links below for more information on each song, as well as pictures and helpful links.

Song #1: Mr. Squirrel Gets Ready to Perform a Concert

Song #2: Azaleas

Song #3: Three Little Boats

Song #4: Klara Nett's Spring Song

Song #5: Clarobotoo and the Dolphins Skim the Surface of the Sea

Song #6: What's the Rush?

The elements of music in Lesson 7:

Sound: Pitches used in this lesson: A through A
Dynamics used in these pieces: forte and piano
Rhythm: Time signatures used in this lesson: two-four, three-four, four-four
Note values used in this lesson: eighth notes, eighth rests, quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes, half rests, dotted half notes, whole notes, and whole rests
Melody: phrases, breath marks

In this lesson you will learn how to play a new note value -- the eighth note.

A single eighth note looks like this:

One eighth note is equal to half of a quarter note. Therefore, when the quarter note is equal to one beat, the eighth note is equal to half a beat.

Eighth notes look different when they occur in groups of two or four. However, they are played exactly the same length. Eighth notes in groups of two and four are beamed together and look like this:

The eighth rest is equal to half of a quarter rest and looks like this

When playing rhythms that involve eighth notes, it is very important to tap your foot to the beat. Avoid tapping your foot to the actual rhythm. It will be very helpful to use the MetronomeBot talking metronomes to make sure that you are playing accurately.

When the beat is broken down into smaller parts, it is called subdividing. We subdivide the second half of each beat by using the word “and” which can be represented by the symbol “&.”

Here are examples of groups of eighth notes in two-four, three-four, and four-four time signatures.