Although a bit less common than 4/4 time, 3/4 is quite popular across a variety of genres. In this lesson, you'll learn about 3/4 time and practice it with some exercises and songs.
Taught by Matt Brown in Reading Music and Rhythm seriesLength: 22:20Difficulty: 2.0 of 5
Matt brings all of his years of education right to you with this fantastic series on how to read music. You will start with the very basics and work up to some very advanced concepts.
Lesson 1
This introductory lesson will walk you through the basics of reading music and reading rhythm.
Length: 15:07 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 2
Learn how to identify notes, the key signature, and the staff. Implement your reading skills by playing a few simple tunes.
Length: 43:32 Difficulty: 1.5 FREELesson 3
Learn the basics of notation and time signatures. Practice these concepts with a few timing exercises.
Length: 22:01 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 4
Now that you've learned a bit about 4/4 time, it's on to 3/4 time.
Length: 22:20 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 5
Now that you know the basics of reading music, it's time to put that knowledge to work with some exercises.
Length: 25:43 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 6
Get some more practice reading music and rhythms during your rock fest rendition of "On Top of Old Smokey".
Length: 15:54 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
Matt Brown reviews the G major scale and teaches "He's Got the Whole World".
Length: 13:18 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
Matt Brown explains how to read music in the key of F major. He uses the song "Amazing Grace" as an example.
Length: 15:22 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 9
Matt Brown teaches the song "Shoo, Fly" as another excellent rhythm and reading example. This song is in the key of G.
Length: 14:46 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 10
Matt Brown returns with the 10th installment in his Reading and Rhythm series. In this lesson, Matt discusses key signatures.
Length: 14:09 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 11
In this lesson Matt Brown covers the first minor key song in this series, "Aura Lee".
Length: 12:11 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 12
In this lesson, Matt introduces the A Dorian mode. He applies it to the song "Scarborough Fair".
Length: 16:29 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 13
In lesson 13, Matt Brown discusses and demonstrates second position.
Length: 29:52 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Lesson 14 is all about rhythm. Matt Brown discusses its importance and provides several exercises.
Length: 20:17 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 15
Matt Brown reviews "On Top of Old Smokey". This time around, the melody is played in second position.
Length: 7:56 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 16
For lesson 14, Matt Brown reviews "Angels We Have Heard On High". The melody is now played in second position.
Length: 12:02 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 17
Matt Brown reviews the song "Shoo, Fly" in second position.
Length: 8:56 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 18
This lesson covers right hand rhythm technique. Matt introduces syncopated strumming patterns.
Length: 25:38 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 19
Matt teaches the melody to "Down by the Riverside". This tune is used as preparation for learning accompaniment techniques.
Length: 15:02 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 20
Matt uses the song "Down by the Riverside" to teach accompaniment techniques for rhythm backing.
Length: 12:31 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 21
Matt teaches the classic tune "Fur Elise" in a two part series. For Part 1, Matt demonstrates the melody section.
Length: 24:03 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 22
In lesson 22, Matt teaches the accompaniment sections to Beethoven's "Fur Elise".
Length: 13:12 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 23
Lesson 23 starts a 2 part series on the classic tune "The Entertainer".
Length: 16:30 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
Lesson 24 completes the two part series on "The Entertainer". You will learn the accompaniment in this lesson.
Length: 14:06 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 25
Matt starts another 2 part lesson, this time on the tune "Sea to Sea" by William G. Leavitt.
Length: 20:36 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 26
Lesson 26 completes Matt's 2 part series on "Sea to Sea".
Length: 10:17 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 27
Matt introduces the B flat major scale and teaches the song "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Length: 21:31 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 28
Matt completes his two part series on "Stars and Stripes Forever" by teaching the accompaniment.
Length: 7:39 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 29
Matt Brown teaches the D Major scale in both first and second positions.
Length: 17:55 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 30
Matt Brown demonstrates "Danny Boy" in both first and second positions.
Length: 16:28 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 31
Matt Brown teaches the accompaniment to the "Danny Boy" melody.
Length: 12:03 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 32
Matt teaches the Christmas classic "Silent Night."
Length: 18:17 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 33
Matt teaches the accompaniment to the "Silent Night" melody.
Length: 4:55 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 34
Matt Brown teaches "Funiculi Funicula" as an exercise in reading and playing in 6/8 time.
Length: 14:39 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 35
Matt Brown teaches the accompaniment to "Funiculi Funicula".
Length: 16:40 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 36
In lesson 36, Matt provides exercises to help you strum triplet patterns.
Length: 23:30 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 37
In lesson 37, Matt Brown demonstrates how to strum sixteenth note rhythms.
Length: 17:28 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 38
Matt Brown demonstrates the melody and tips for playing the Russian folk tune "Song of the Volga Boatmen".
Length: 11:33 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 39
In lesson 39, Matt teaches the accompaniment to "Song of the Volga Boatmen".
Length: 8:35 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 40
Matt Brown teaches and demonstrates "Dance of the Ukraine."
Length: 15:37 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 41
Matt demonstrates the accompaniment to the "Dance of the Ukraine" melody.
Length: 13:36 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 42
Matt Brown teaches an etude for classical guitar by Ferdinando Carulli.
Length: 21:20 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 43
Matt Brown teaches the melody section to "Morning" by Edvard Grieg.
Length: 18:44 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 44
Matt teaches the accompaniment for Edvard Grieg's "Morning."
Length: 8:08 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 45
Matt Brown teaches Bach's classic Minuet.
Length: 14:55 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 46
In lesson 46, Matt Brown covers the accompaniment section to Bach's Minuet.
Length: 5:53 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 47
Matt Brown teaches Bach's "Little Prelude in C."
Length: 16:23 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 48
Matt Brown teaches the accompaniment to "Little Prelude in C" by Bach.
Length: 7:49 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 49
Matt Brown teaches the 2nd guitar part to Muzio Clementi's famous "Sonatina."
Length: 23:46 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 50
Matt Brown teaches Invention #1 composed by J.S. Bach.
Length: 21:42 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 51
Matt takes a look at playing in third position. This lesson will set up future reading lessons that require the third position.
Length: 7:16 Difficulty: 0.0 Members OnlyLesson 52
Matt Brown has you working through Jean Philippe Rameau's Minuet for third position playing in lesson 52. He provides a play along and accompaniment to help your sight reading and playing.
Length: 15:11 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
About Matt Brown
View Full Biography
Matt Brown began playing the guitar at the age of 11. "It was a rule in my family to learn and play an instrument for at least two years. I had been introduced to a lot of great music at the time by friends and their older siblings. I was really into bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins, so the decision to pick up the guitar came pretty easily."
Matt's musical training has always followed a very structured path. He began studying the guitar with Dayton, Ohio guitar great Danny Voris. I began learning scales, chords, and basic songs like any other guitarist. After breaking his left wrist after playing for only a year, Matt began to study music theory in great detail. I wanted to keep going with my lessons, but I obviously couldn't play at all. Danny basically gave me the equivalent of a freshman year music theory course in the span of two months. These months proved to have a huge impact on Brown's approach to the instrument.
Brown continued his music education at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He completed a degree in Classical Guitar Performance in 2002. While at Capital, he also studied jazz guitar and recording techniques in great detail. "I've never had any desire to perform jazz music. Its lack of relevance to modern culture has always turned me off. However, nothing will improve your chops more than studying this music."
Matt Brown currently resides in Dayton, Ohio. He teaches lessons locally as well as at Capital University's Community Music School. Matt's recent projects include writing and recording with his new, as of yet nameless band as well as the formation of a cover band called The Dirty Cunnies.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Great lesson your Awesome at playing the guitar!
great work, thx
In Ex 8, why isn't Matt counting for demo purposes?
Hey Matt, just wanted to say thanks for providing valuable material and examples in this lesson set. Learning to play with sheet music always seemed like the thing to do from the beginning but all the terminology and meanings kind of scared me off. With your help and some other books that I have picked up im slowly starting to learn the language. Time signatures used to take me a while to understand, but I soon developed the ability to pace it out in my head (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) like you suggested and now the strumming just seems to happen on its own. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest of this series! -Ryan-
You're welcome! Yeah, reading music does tend to scare people away. I think once you dive into it though, you'll realize that it isn't so hard. In addition to learning how to read from standard notation, I hope this series gives people the necessary information to play musically and with conviction. By the way, I check these comments pretty regularly, so if you ever have any questions, just let me know. :)
Great lesson Matt, I'm finally learning this stuff, small note, the final exercise is wrong in the lesson materials, you mention another rest that is not there, in the video at 16:36, and ex. 10 in the material says 12:10 hehe, it'll be great if you can correct that. Thanks
Thanks so much for the heads up! Not sure what happened there...haha ;) I'm getting it fixed right now.
In exercise 3, I'm a bit perplexed about the counting. You indicate that the count is 1+2+(3)+. I always understood that for eighth notes, they are counted as a half-beat. So in the case of exercise 3, the count would be 1++2+The single eighth note is a half-beat with the quarter note receiving the whole beat, on the down beat. Can you help me to understand where I am going wrong?
Well, if that's what I said in the lesson, that's wrong, and I'm sorry I confused you! For exercise 3, you can't count "1+2 3+". The "1+" accounts for the first two eighth notes. Then, the quarter hits on "2". The "3+" accounts for the last two eighth notes. You can also count "1+2+3+" through the whole measure to ensure that you don't rush the quarter note. Subdividing the rhythm can sometimes help your timing. Just make sure you don't sneak in an eighth note on the "+" of 2.
Basic stuff, but some the supplemental material is missing making it difficult to follow while searching for the material that isn't there. Also, Matt you need to tell us which measure you're on instead of continually saying "and the next one." If you did not tell us the prior measure, It's difficult to immediately know what "the next one" is. Otherwise, good stuff.
Thanks for the feedback!...All very helpful comments. I'll take another look at this one and see what I might have missed in terms of supplemental content. I'll also put in some time markers so you can easily tell which measure / exercise I'm referring too. Thanks again for keeping me honest! :)
Out of tune - that was a laugh... Matt, thank you very much for this set. It is really useful, though I'm just refreshing my knowledge. Looking forward to complicated melodies and rhythms.
Am enjoying the reading music series. But I don't know how to follow the rhythm exercises in this lesson. I only have a total of 8 exercises, but you indicate 10, in the text. And the rhythm doesn't seem to match up. What am I missing?
the supplemental content only shows exercises 3 - 10. The first exercise is with all quarter notes and the second is with all eighth notes.