A compound-time reading check. Feel it in two — two dotted-quarter beats a bar — and let
the eighths flow between them. Count "1 2 3 4 5 6" while you learn each line, then just the
two big beats once it's under your fingers.
1 · Even eighths in 6/8
100 bpm
Two groups of three per bar. Lean on beats 1 and 4 (the first note of each group). The last note is a full-beat dotted quarter.
2 · The classic 6/8 figure
100 bpm
'Long–short' on each beat: a quarter (two of the three divisions) then an eighth. It should lilt — DAA-da, DAA-da.
3 · Row Your Boat
104 bpm
The opening of the round, on the D string. 'Row, row' — two full beats. 'Row your boat' — a quarter, an eighth, a full beat. 'Gently down the' — a run down. 'Stream' — held a whole bar.
If it comes out as 3/4
You're counting six beats instead of two. Put the metronome on just two clicks a bar and
fit three eighths between each. The click is a dotted quarter now, not a quarter.