Rhythm

Rhythm is about bringing music to life, the technical side is important, the math side, but it is the human element that brings meaning to rhythm, and is an important part to animating the music, bringing it to life so that you don't have to tell people to tap their foot, they do it on their own because you have struck a chord within them. Rhythm is intrinsic to life, we all have a pulse, a tempo, started by the downbeat of the heart. This brings blood to all our cells, and synchronizes all of our internal systems within ourselves and the outside world. We live by the rhythm of night and day, activity and rest. I'm always fascinated by how the principles of music are similar to the physical laws that govern life and the world we share. This video gives a short lesson on many different percussion instruments (tambourine, shaker, guitar, etc.) and relates the insights I have learned from playing them to how I think about and compose rhythms on Chrome Music Lab. Get on google, type in 'chrome music lab' and try this out for yourself. If you feel inspired, get a salt shaker or a put some dried rice or beans in an old can and tape it shut. Did you know I've been playing drums since I was a teenager, that it was my first instrument? People always ask me how I learned to play so many different instruments, the answer is that I start out treating each instrument like a rhythm instrument, no matter how complicated that instrument was, I just played one note at a time in rhythm. Over time, I add two notes, then 3, then with a little bit of understanding of how a chords work, I can start to make chords and so on. This is how I have learned every instrument, starting with just playing a simple rhythm on it.