Rhythm, Meter, and Tempo
| A more advanced exercise: Our excerpt, from the middle of Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, for piano and orchestra, by Sergei Rachmaninov, consists of four continuous segments in different meters and tempos, here labeled A, B, C, and D. | ||
| 0:00 | A | The piano starts in duple meter (ONE two ONE two). The loud orchestral interruptions are syncopated. (After the interruptions the meter is somewhat obscured, but it gets clearer.) |
| 0:33 | Clear duple meter by this time; then the music comes to a stop. | |
| 0:49 | B | No meter. The piano seems to be engaged in a meditative improvisation, as if it is dreaming up the music to come. |
| 1:45 | Orchestral instruments suggest a slow duple meter? Not for long. | |
| 2:24 | C | Slow triple meter (ONE two three ONE two three) |
| 3:47 | Ritardando (getting slower) | |
| 3:56 | D | Fast triple meter, assertive (note one or two syncopated notes) |
| 4:26 | Faster triple meter | |