1.
25 Eastman Counting System
Dividing the beat into 2 or 4 When the beat is divided into two even parts or four even parts, as in simple time signatures OR duplets/quadruplets in compound time, the following syllables are used to count the rhythm:
Notes on the beat use the number of the beat:
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# ! "$
1
$
2
Notes on the second half of the beat use te ("tay"):
! # "$
1
$
te
$
2
$
te
Notes on the second fourth of the beat use ti ("tee"):
! # "$
1
$
ti
$
te
$
2
$
ti
$
te
All other notes use ta ("tah"):
# ! "$
1
$
ti
$
te
$
ta
$
2
$
ti
$
te
$
ta
Dividing the beat into 3 or 6 When the beat is divided into three even parts or six even parts, as in compound time signatures OR triplets/sextuplets in simple time, the following syllables are used to count the rhythm:
Notes on the beat use the number of the beat:
% # & $!
1
$!
2
Notes on the second third of the beat use la ("lah"):
% # &$ '
1
$
la
$ '
2
$
la
Notes on the last third of the beat use li ("lee"):
% # &$
1
$
la
$
li
$
2
$
la
$
li
All other notes use ta ("tah"):
% # &$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
1
ta
la
ta
li
ta
ta
la
ta
li
ta
Any note not covered by the above rules will use the syllable ta.
Copyright 2010 by Mark Feezell. All Rights Reserved.