Fit Two Sounds Inside One Beat

Supplied materials

• Paper and a pencil, or typed notes. Draw beat boxes with whole-beat and half-beat spaces.
• Example: In a 4-beat plan, beat 1 must contain two equal short sounds; each other beat has one longer sound. Which plan preserves all 4 beats? Choices: (A) Add an extra beat 5 for the second sound (B) Make every gap a different length (C) Remove beat 1 completely (D) Split beat 1 into two halves; leave the other 3 beats whole.
• Try this: In a 4-beat plan, beat 2 must contain two equal short sounds; each other beat has one longer sound. Which plan preserves all 4 beats? Choices: (A) Add an extra beat 5 for the second sound (B) Make every gap a different length (C) Remove beat 2 completely (D) Split beat 2 into two halves; leave the other 3 beats whole.

Learn the idea

One beat can hold two equal short sounds. Each short sound takes half of that beat. The two halves still use one whole beat, and the other beats keep their places.

Look at the example. Two halves sum to one whole beat, so dividing only beat 1 changes its sound rhythm without changing the 4-beat pulse. Adding or removing a beat would change the phrase length.

Count the beat boxes as well as the sounds. Two sounds inside one box can still make just one beat.

1. Look at the four-beat example. Find the beat that must hold two equal short sounds.
2. Compare splitting one beat into halves with adding a fifth beat. Explain which keeps four beats.
3. Try the check question and the three practice questions. Then read the feedback.
4. Draw four whole-beat boxes and divide only the third into two equal short-sound spaces.
5. Check your work. There are four total beats, with two half-beat sounds in the third and one whole sound in each other box.

Check your reasoning

Your answer is temporary and is not saved to an account. Download your current answer before leaving or reloading. Written work on paper or in another app stays in your own file.

Take it further

Try a new example: In a 5-beat plan, beat 4 must contain two equal short sounds; each other beat has one longer sound. Which plan preserves all 5 beats? Choices: (A) Add an extra beat 6 for the second sound (B) Make every gap a different length (C) Remove beat 4 completely (D) Split beat 4 into two halves; leave the other 4 beats whole. Answer: Split beat 4 into two halves; leave the other 4 beats whole. Two halves sum to one whole beat, so dividing only beat 4 changes its sound rhythm without changing the 5-beat pulse. Adding or removing a beat would change the phrase length. Make your own: Draw four whole-beat boxes and divide only the third into two equal short-sound spaces. Check your work: There are four total beats, with two half-beat sounds in the third and one whole sound in each other box.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.