Re: Rhythm

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Christian,

> Considering this pattern "g16 g g8". I do understand that the second g
> is inheriting the 16 from the previous g. I don't understand why I
> need to g8 to get the fourth 16th note? Is it maybe that the duration
> from the second note to the third note is of an eight note?

No... the duration of an eighth note is equal to the total duration  
of two sixteenth notes (i.e., 1/16 * 2 = 1/8).

Put another way, the rhythm

    g16 g g8

sounds the same as the rhythm

    g16 g g ~ g

[note that here the third and fourth 16th notes are tied, using the ~  
character].

> I probably have a different way of thinking in my head than lilypond
> and for that matter most musicians. I'm trying to change that.

You'll definitely need to brush up on your theory in order to quickly  
advance in Lilypond.

For the record, you might not want to use (i.e., learn from) the  
YouTube video you linked to: it is rather confused/confusing on this  
matter. Above the g16 g16 g8 pattern, the text says "two quarter  
beats and a half". [!!] While I understand what the author meant —  
that a quarter note is considered (in this context) a "beat", and  
thus a sixteenth note is a "quarter beat", etc. — this is *not* a  
good way to learn the fundamentals of the Western notation system.  
First of all we talk about quarter NOTES (which could be confused  
with quarter BEATS), and secondly the duration which is considered a  
"beat" changes depending on the time signature, tempo, and so on (so  
in one piece, a dotted half note could be the "beat", so a "quarter  
beat" becomes problematic).

Good luck!
Kieren.