Reading a steady beat · From Zero to Mozart

Stage 2 is all about rhythm. This lesson is just enough of it to play the tunes at the end of this stage — three note lengths and a count.

Three lengths

Note	Beats	Count it
quarter note (filled, with a stem)	1	"1"
half note (open, with a stem)	2	"1–2"
whole note (open, no stem)	4	"1–2–3–4"

The time signature at the start — usually 4/4 — has a top number that tells you how many beats are in each bar. In 4/4, four. You count 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, steady, out loud or in your head, and the notes fall on those numbers.

72 bpm

All on the open D string — this example is about the rhythm, not the notes. A whole note (hold four counts), then two half notes (two each), then four quarters (one each). Count 1-2-3-4 through every bar, and keep the bow moving for the whole length.

Now with a tune

66 bpm

Four quarters — one count each — then two half notes, two counts each. Say '1 2 3 4' out loud while you play; the last note is held '3-4'.

Clap it before you bow it

Separate the two problems. Clap and count the rhythm first, with no violin — then the only thing left to solve is the notes. This is Leopold Mozart's advice, word for word.

The usual mistake

Playing the right notes with no pulse — reading without counting, so the long notes get clipped and the short ones sprawl. The metronome is not optional here; start it slow.

Try

Metronome at 60. Clap: four quarters, then two halves, then a whole, counting aloud each time. Then play the tune above, counting. If the count wobbles, slow the metronome down.