Lesson 56 of 84 · Famous Composers
⭐ 30 XP🎻 Music History HallThe Bass Drum Pulse (Part 2)
A quarter note gets one beat in 4/4 time.
🎯 Your mission
Steal one trick from a master. Use it your way.
⚡ The twist
Every musician you love stole from someone else first.
Listen for this
🎧 Listen for what was new at the time — not what sounds normal today.
Artist Spotlight
🌟 Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, wrote about computers playing music in 1843.
Mind = Blown
🤯 Hip-hop was invented at one party in the Bronx in 1973.
Learn about the bass drum pulse (part 2): explore polyrhythm and layered beats
What You'll Learn
A quarter note gets one beat in 4/4 time. This is the most common note value students learn first.
Explore polyrhythm and layered beats
Compare beats across world music traditions
Notes on the Staff
Tap a note to hear it
Check Your Understanding
Question 1 of 3
What is polyrhythm?
Where you hear this in real life
Today's pop hit borrows from 70 years of music history without anyone noticing.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Listen to one song from before your parents were born this week.
For the dinner table
“Tell me about the music you loved when you were my age.”
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