Listen to a two-measure (UK: bar) rhythm played on G4 and choose which of the four written rhythms it is. This group brings the off-beat: an eighth rest followed by an eighth note (UK: quaver), a note that enters halfway through the beat, together with pairs of eighth notes, quarter notes (UK: crotchets) and quarter rests, in 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4.
How to use the exercise: press Start and then Listen. While it plays you can already choose the rhythm (A, B, C or D). After you answer, the right one turns green and, if you missed, you see on which beats your choice differs. The four rhythms look very much alike: the wrong ones change one or two beats. You can listen to the dictation up to three times. Often the eighth rest and eighth note are swapped for two eighth notes or for a quarter note.
How to take a rhythm dictation with the eighth rest
- Lock in the pulse first. The metronome measure before the audio gives you the speed and the downbeat. Count with it, then keep counting in your head while the rhythm plays, rests included.
- Find the time signature and count its beats. Count them from the metronome measure. Return to 1 in every measure, even if the first beat is silent.
- Listen to where each note falls inside the beat. A note that starts with the pulse and lasts the whole beat is a quarter note. Two notes that share the beat in halves are two eighth notes. A single note that arrives halfway through the beat, between two pulses, is an eighth rest plus an eighth note. If the note keeps sounding on the next beats it is a longer value, and if nothing sounds it is a rest.
- Split your listenings. Both measures play each time, but you can focus on one thing per listen: the pulse and the first measure first, then the second measure, and finally the whole dictation as a check. You may answer while it is still playing.
The most common mistake is hearing the off-beat eighth note as if it fell on the beat: without the pulse inside you, a single note in a beat sounds like a quarter note. Tap your foot and say "(rest)-ti" for the eighth rest and eighth note, "ti-ti" for two eighth notes and "ta" for a quarter note. If the note lands as the foot goes down, it is a quarter note; if it lands as the foot comes up, it is the eighth note after its rest.
What the dictations are like
Every dictation is generated on the spot: two measures of 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 using quarter notes, pairs of eighth notes, the eighth rest plus eighth note, and quarter rests, all on G4 played by a piano at 72 to 90 quarter notes per minute. The eighth rest plus eighth note always fills exactly one beat: the beat starts silent and the note enters in its second half, off the beat. Other eighth notes come in pairs, joined by a beam. Every dictation has at least one eighth rest plus eighth note. A measure of metronome clicks plays first at the same tempo, with a stronger first beat. A dictation may begin with a rest, but never has more than two beats of rest in a row or a silent measure.
Every note sounds for nearly its full length, so the eighth note after its rest is heard as a short note that enters halfway through the beat, between two pulses. Each test has 10 dictations: 3 in 2/4, 4 in 3/4 and 3 in 4/4, none repeated.
Frequently asked questions
When you answer correctly almost every time, write the dictation yourself. If it is still hard, go back to the group without the eighth rest: quarter notes and eighth notes.