Read the rhythm before the pitch

An unfamiliar score can still be countable

Read the durations below from left to right. One quarter, two eighths, and one half note fill four quarter-note beats.

Flags and beams tell the same story

An eighth note has one flag; a sixteenth has two. When notes are grouped, beams replace their flags. One beam still means eighths and two still means sixteenths.

Beaming also reveals grouping. Read those groups against the pulse instead of treating each note as a separate counting problem.

Match the visual clue to its meaning

Tap something on the left, then tap what it pairs with.

Now hear the score you just read

Count 1, 2 & 3, 4. There is no new attack on 4: the half note that began on 3 is still sounding.

● attack · — hold · · silence. The quiet high click is the pulse.

Two notes share a single beam. What does that beam mean?

Takeaways

• Read rhythm on its own before adding guitar positions.
• Beams group attacks; they do not sustain a note.