Sunday, July 31, 2011

"At Summer Morn" in 3/8

On July 17th I posted a hammered dulcimer version of the round "At Summer Morn".  In today's lesson I use this same song to give you sight singing practice in G major and 3/8 time.  3/8 is triple meter and can be counted in one or three depending on the tempo.  On the video I sing it slowly enough to count three beats in each measure.  The eighth note represents the beat.  A faster tempo would be counted with one beat per measure with the dotted quarter note representing the beat.  The beat would then be divided into three parts for the triple meter feel.  This triple division of the beat is often called compound time as opposed to simple time which has the beat divided into two parts.  Several previous lessons go into more detail about this:

Feb. 16 - Compound Time Signatures
Feb. 17 - Simple or Compound?
Feb. 18 - Triple Meter: Simple and Compound  (part 1)
Feb. 20 - Triple Meter:  Simple and Compound (part 2)