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Go for a walk. Count each step, in twos or fours. Tread heavier on the ones. One two One two One two One two One two three four One two three four They feel different, don't they? This is the difference. And yet there is an equivalence between them. Walk at the same tempo, but count to four twice as fast, so you're stepping on the One and the three. One ...

It is sometimes referred to as a dotted rhythm because the first four notes are all dotted eighth notes. I think it is popular because it's a very easy way to disrupt the normal pulse. Basically, what you are doing is overlaying a pulse that is different from the regular pulse. It works very well as a fill between sections for this same reason. If it ...

The other answers are all essentially correct, but I think a critical point is missing. There aren't just fully "strong" and fully "weak" beats; there are also beats of medium strength (and other varieties). 4/4 is emphasized like this: ONE two three four Note the half-accent on the third beat, different from what slim mentioned. If you're playing ...

You can call it a polyrhythm or polymeter beat with an artificial resolution. (lots of buzzwords there...) What it is doing is actually increasing the tension by using a 3/8 accent pattern over a 4/8 beat, giving it a sped-up effect. So if you are playing a steady 4/4 beat, switching to this would create an expectation for the listener, and hinting that ...

If a computer plays them, they are the same. However, it may influence how a human player interprets it, even if they don't know anything about what it meant historically, because all those extra beams will make the score look thicker, less spacious, and the notes seem to be more connected. A good player should be able to find a working interpretation ...

Like everyone else, I would strongly suggest investing in a metronome to keep a consistent beat. In addition, practice counting along with what you are playing. When it comes down to it, though, being able to count a consistent quarter-note (for example) is only a part of the problem, and using a metronome set to the quarter-note will really only ensure ...

As far as I know, the experts say this all has to do with psychology, sensory perception and cognition, and not physiology. This is a question about the intersection of psychology and music, and even the discipline known as "music therapy". There has been a lot of research done on this sort of thing in recent years and a lot of books published on it, but ...

Well, the tiny hairlike structures in your cochlea transmit impulses through the vestibocochlear cranial nerve to your cerebral cortex, then some stuff happens that we don't fully understand yet, but you experience it as sound and link it emotionally to similar experiences in your past. The only real exception I can think of is if the music you are listening ...

The drumloop you hear on the track that you've mentioned is a chopped/edited version of an 'Amen beat'. Find a refill for Reason with a bunch of REX Amenloops and then mess around. It is common to remove the snare drum and the kick drum from the original loop and add your own kick and snare in place. (This is definitely the case in the song you mentioned). ...

First of all, you should buy a good metronome. Then practise with the metronome. Start moderately slow and turn it up in small steps. Do this with for some time with different songs/pieces and after a while you will notice that you get better at keeping time. In my experience there are only very few people that are completely "time-deaf".

I suggest that you get a good metronome (I like ones with a dial instead of buttons). But don't "start slow and then slowly speed up"! At least not yet. That will be good for new things later on, but first you need to re-learn you existing pieces. And it'll be easier on your nerves to do it at tempo (you've already learned the thing, right?). Instead of ...

Get a metronome, or better still something that can play you drum patterns. Some multi-fx pedals have some preset drum patterns. Used drum machines can be bought fairly cheaply. A couple of advantages of a drum pattern over a metronome click: You can pick a pattern that fits the piece you're practising (on the down side, you can pick a pattern that's a ...

It's all about the feel in the music. Sometimes it really doesn't matter, and it is very difficult to say what is more natural. But often you have distinguised beat at the first in each measure. If it is a march, you have the first beat on the right foot when marching to it, and it is natural to have a 2/4. Rock music often has a beat pattern that ...

When someone is following a conductor, the location of the ictus is not so important as the direction of movement of the tip. This is going to seem counterintuitive, but the direction of movement is consistent with both methods, and I've known conductors to switch back and forth with the ensemble only noticing when inspecting the video afterwards. Think ...

When I am following a conductor, I want to know which beat the conductor is beating, so a clearly-defined style with each ictus decently [not, perhaps, widely] spaced is crucial. If it's possible to misread which beat of the bar the conductor has reached (because each ictus is in the same place physically), it's possible to be beautifully on-the-beat on the ...

There's a decent quality open source drum machine called Hydrogen that will let you prototype beats quickly and easily. You can export loops, I think, and you can also hook it up to play well with other software synths, lIke reason. There's an introductory tutorial at http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/node/7. Once you have the basics of hydrogen down, ...