Steve Tirpak

Introducing The Eighth Note Steve Tirpak

Introducing The Eighth Note is a book that contains rhythm exercises designed to improve sight reading ability. Written with the intermediate student in mind, each page progresses very gradually in difficulty. Rhythmic placements, beams and groupings of eighth notes are throughly covered before an new variation is introduced. The fastest note in this book is the eighth note triplet. Most of the exercises are written in 4/4 however, this book also covers odd meters such as 3/4 and 5/4. Ties are also gradually added. All of the rhythms are practical, meaning there are no theoretical occurrences of odd groups of notes and rests. Depending on the tempo, this book can benefit many students regardless of age or skill level. The author recommends that the exercises are practiced with a metronome while clapping and also by playing one pitch on an instrument. For band and group situations, instruments can be assigned different pitches creating chords as a fun change.