The Rhythm Lab
The Rhythm Lab

Tap to wake up the sound

Your iPad needs one tap before it'll play any sound. Tap, then turn the volume up.

A Practice Module · No. 2 in the series

The Rhythm Lab

Long, short, and the silence in between

Rhythm is just the pattern of longs and shorts — and the quiet spots between them. Same as counting, you don't guess it, you count it. Work through this on your own. Say the counts out loud, loud enough to hear yourself.

"At the end of the day there are only seven notes in a scale. How you space things out — that's the part that makes your music sound like nobody else's." — Ted
No. 1 · Quick Refresher

The building blocks

Every rhythm is made of these four lengths and their silent cousins, the rests. Tap one to hear how long it lasts.

𝅝
Whole
4 beats
𝅗𝅥
Half
2 beats
Quarter
1 beat
Eighth
½ beat
No. 2 · Read & Count

Count a rhythm out loud

Each box below is half a beat: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. A filled box is a hit. An empty box is a rest — silent, but you still count it. Pick a pattern and watch the counts light up. Say them as they go.

"The tricky one" has its first hit, then a rest that lands you on an off-beat. That's the kind of spot that trips everybody up. Count 1 (and 2 and) 3 and 4 and — the rest gets counted too.
No. 3 · Echo Challenge

Hear it, then build it back

Press Listen. A rhythm plays. Then tap the boxes to build back exactly what you heard, and press Check. Get it right and the next one gets harder.

Level 1
Score 0
Best 0
No. 4 · Make Your Own

The power of empty space

Turn boxes on and off, then press play and let it loop. Try making it sound good with only three hits. Hear how the empty boxes — the rests — change the whole feel. That empty space is yours to shape.

A rhythm with space in it almost always beats a wall of notes. That's the whole game.

The Rhythm Lab · tedsablay.com · Count it, don't guess it