Welcome to our course on reading rhythms. I'm Harry Buerer, and I'll be your guide along the path to fluency in reading musical rhythm. What is rhythm? A piece of music is made up of notes. How high or low these notes are is the issue of pitch. How long or short the notes are, and how quickly they follow one another is the issue of rhythm. Rhythm, as we're using the term here, is essentially the dimension of time in music.

Most people who come to music through the playing of an instrument have become well acquainted with reading rhythms. In contrast, many people who are connected with music only through singing have never learned to read rhythms with confidence. They have tended to copy someone else's demonstration of how a song should go.

This course is designed to help those who don't feel confident in their ability to read music rhythms. Maybe you've just completed our course in Singing the Notes You See. Or maybe you're new to music, or have been singing along with music you know all your life. After you finish the videos in this course, you should be able to understand and sing virtually any rhythms that you come across.

Why should you learn to read rhythms? Mostly for the confidence that it gives you in knowing that you're doing what the composer intended. Rhythm is a language that, once you understand it, the composer or arranger can communicate with you directly how a song should go. Don't depend on others to translate for you. Be independent.

Let's continue together in our path toward rhythmic understanding.