Rythmic Subdivision

[Depth_Charge]

I've not heard the term "rythmic subdivision" until recently and have googled and searched the topic on here, but can't seem to find much info.

If people who know about it could give me a quick run down on it, mighty appreciated.

Thanks,

[cowsgomoo]

by definition, it's how you subdivide rhythmic components...

one of the very simplest examples of contrasting rhythmic subdivisions is in 4/4 versus 12/8

each bar has 4 beats to it but in 4/4, each beat is subdivided into two equal parts

in 12/8 each beat is subdivided into 3 equal parts (which is where 12/8 comes from, it's THREE eighth notes per beat... so each bar has 12 eight notes)

you can subdivide subdivisions too... i.e. with a four beat bar that has two eight notes per beat, you can subdivide each eighth note into two or three (or more) parts... technically tripletized 16th would be notated as 24/16 but most composers would find a more legible way of showing this on a score


you can also subdivide beats in a way that goes against the subdivision indicated by the time signature... e.g. a figure written as an eight note triplet over 1 beat of a bar of 4/4 subdivides that beat into 3 equal parts... you can literally subdivide anything over anything else... there's a terrific piece of music by Frank Zappa, Sinister Footwear 2nd Movement, which has an end section in 3/4, where each beat is subdivided into 2 eighth notes but the 16ths are swung (split roughly into 3), and over the bars of 3 he floats orchestrated phrases of notes like 7:3, 13:12, 5:3 etc... really insane rhythmic subdivisions of the beat

there's a school of thought that you can divide most groups of rhythms, however complex, to either groups of 2 or 3

i.e 5/8 can often be felt as 2+3... 7/8 as 2+2+3

so at its very minimum, a good grasp of rhythmic subdivision will help you stay anchored when things go weird

[steveb98]

It can also be as simple as feeling a 4/4 piece in eighth notes or sixteenths. It helps a lot when playing slow tempo to keep even time. Also helps when playing syncopated rhythms. Also for learning to sightreading your eyes should start being able to seeing each beat. To do that you have to be able to recognize the subdivisions quickly.