Advanced Sight-Reading Curriculum - Part 4

---

Meters with Eighth-Note Beats (9)

Whereas half-note beats are normally used for quick tempos, eighth-note beats are usually associated with slow movements. Since slow movements tend to be more elaborately ornamented than fast movements, and use a greater variety of subdivisions of the beat, these scores often look rather daunting to the eye. Seeing a page full of “small” notes (16th, 32nd, and even 64th notes), we may panic, thinking that these notes must be extremely fast. But with the 8th note as the beat, and a slow beat at that, these small notes are not as fast, or as challenging to play, as they...

Sign in or subscribe to read the full article.