Rock-A-Bye, Baby

4. We will start with a simple tune,Rock-A-Bye, Baby.

Rock-a-bye,ba-by,ina treetop,
Whenthe windblows, Thecra-dle willrock.

The first step

(a) At the smallest level (beating all the shortest notes), the feet will beat quite fast.
     You will soon see that beating binary (with your feet) is most uncomfortable -
          starting on theL(eft) foot will make you end on theR(ight) foot, but
               the wordsRock-a-bye,ba-by andcra-dle (normally accented at the beginning)
               come out Rock-a-bye,ba-by, and cra-dle.
     Try it yourself (beating ternary) before looking at the answer.
          As you sing the melody, on the very first note,
               Start onR,L, orTand see if you end onR.

Once you have found on which foot to start, check by looking at theAnimation
     - as you see, this level starts onR.
This is a ternary level, and
     you will have the feeling of Beats and Off-beats at this smallest level.
Repeat it several times to get this feeling into the feet .
     Notice how the Melody and the Words fit with the feet.
     Notice that, on the fourth and thirteenth notes, there were two beats, and
          on the ninth and eigtheenth notes, there were three beats.
          These notes are proportionally longer than the others.
     Notice also that, on these longer notes,
          the feet wereR-L, orR-L-T, as they should be in a subdivision.

Since this level started onR, it will not produce a pick-up.

The second step

(b) At the next larger level, the feet will beat three times as slowly.
     As you sing the melody, on the very first note,
          start on eitherR,L, or possiblyT, and see if you end onR.
               Remember that the level might be binary or ternary but always try binary first.

Once you have found on which foot to start, check by looking at theAnimation
     as you see, this level starts onL.
This is a binary level and
     you will have the feeling of Beats and Off-beats at this larger level.
Repeat it several times to get this feeling into the feet.
     Notice how the Melody and the Words fit with the feet.
     Notice that the longest note of the melody is
          not longer than the Beats of this level.
We have foundLevel 0,
     and there is no point in seeingLevel +1,Level +2... which are all binary.
We now know that the smallest level was what we will callLevel -2-1,
     because a ternary level occupies the space of 2 binary levels.
  

Those on a guided Tour should click onin the Navigation Bar below.

Those browsing might like to try something a little more complicated,Oh, Where, Oh, Where.