Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 12 of 19
Sixteenth rhythms that skip the beat.
These figures leave out the sixteenth that falls on the beat, or hold a note across it. They are the core of funk and Latin rhythms.
Keep counting all four slots (1 e & a) in your head, including the silent ones. The rest at the start of a beat is where most claps come in early.
| Figure | Count | Kodály syllables |
|---|---|---|
| Rest + three sixteenths | (1) e & a | (sh) ti-ka-ti |
| Sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth | 1 e (&) a | ti-ti-ka |
| Tied across the beat | … a-(1) | clap once, hold |
In the earlier sixteenth-note lessons every beat started with a note. Here the first slot is often silent, or still filled by a note held over from the beat before. A sixteenth rest looks like an eighth rest with two hooks instead of one.
Say all four slots, "1 e & a", and clap only what is written. For a beat that starts with a rest, say the number out loud or tap it with your foot. Something in your body has to mark the beat that your hands leave out.
Sixteenth, eighth, sixteenth claps on 1, e and a. The middle note is the long one and covers the "&".
Coming in early after a rest on the beat is by far the most frequent one. The second is turning sixteenth, eighth, sixteenth into three even notes. Loop each figure at 50 BPM with the click on before you try a whole exercise. These figures are the vocabulary of funk guitar, samba and many pop vocal lines.