Rhythm Trainer: Tap, Read and Write Rhythms
Rhythm is learned by tapping: hearing a rhythm and playing it back, reading the notes and playing them in time, hearing it and writing it down. This rhythm trainer does all three, from quarter notes to triplets, in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 6/8, and shows whether each tap landed early or late, in milliseconds.
How to use it
- Pick a mode: Echo (listen and repeat), Read (see the rhythm and tap it) or Dictation (listen and build the rhythm from note values).
- Choose the level, time signature and tempo. Start slow, around 60 BPM.
- Tap Start: you get one bar of count-in and, in Echo mode, the rhythm itself; then it's your turn to tap the big pad, press the space bar or clap.
- Each note turns green (within 35 ms), yellow (within 75 ms) or red, with the offset shown below it. In Dictation, the wrong beats turn red and the answer appears.
- The first time, tap Calibrate latency and tap along with the clicks; for clapping, let the microphone hear the speaker.
Help and explanations
You tap the screen, press the space bar or clap; the microphone only detects the attack, on your device. Every phone and computer delays sound a little, so the trainer measures that latency once and subtracts it from your taps.
The levels, from quarter notes to triplets
Each level adds new note values and mixes in the earlier ones: 1, quarter notes, half notes and rests; 2, eighth notes; 3, sixteenth notes; 4, dotted notes; 5, syncopation (eighth-quarter-eighth and sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth, found in samba, funk and countless pop grooves); 6, triplets. In 6/8 the beat is the dotted quarter, split into three eighths, and the last level brings in the duplet.
How to read your results
Up to about 30 ms apart, the ear hears two sounds as together; from 30 to 75 ms it sounds “almost”; beyond that, the rhythm falls apart. Low variation is worth more than one perfect tap: someone who is always 20 ms off in the same direction is steadier than someone who drifts back and forth.
Tips
- Count the smallest note value out loud: with sixteenths, “1-e-&-a” on every beat; in 6/8, all six eighths with the accent on 1 and 4.
- Tap lightly with your fingertip: a heavy tap comes in late.
- Rushing is the most common mistake, because we jump ahead of the click. Wait for the sound.
- Only raise the tempo after scoring above 90% a few times in a row.
- When you clap, the click goes silent on your turn (otherwise the microphone would hear the speaker); if the mic picks up noise, lower the sensitivity.
Frequently asked questions
How do I practice rhythm?
A little every day, slowly and counting out loud: listen and repeat, read and play, listen and write. Start with quarter notes at 60 BPM and only move up a level when you get it right with room to spare; then play along with the metronome.
What is rhythmic dictation?
Hearing a rhythm and writing it down with the right note values. Here you build it beat by beat by picking note values; it is graded beat by beat and then shows the answer.
What is rhythm reading?
Tapping or playing a written rhythm, with no melody. The rhythm appears on a one-line staff and you tap it after one bar of count-in.
What is syncopation?
An accent away from the strong beat: a note that starts on the offbeat and is held over the next beat, as in eighth-quarter-eighth.
How do you count 6/8 time?
It has two beats of three eighth notes each: count “1 2 3 4 5 6” with the accent on 1 and 4. In 6/8 the trainer's count-in plays the eighths so you can feel it.
Why calibrate latency?
Every device delays sound and touch, from 10 ms to over 200 ms with Bluetooth headphones. Without subtracting that, you would always look late. The measurement is saved on your device.