Rhythmic Dictation: Which Rhythm Is Playing? Pick Notes

Listen to a two-measure (UK: two-bar) rhythm played on the note G and choose which of the four written rhythms you heard. You decide what can appear: from quarter notes and rests to sixteenths, syncopation and triplets, in simple meters (2/4, 3/4 and 4/4) and compound meters (6/8, 9/8 and 12/8). It is the first step of rhythmic dictation, before you write one on your own.

How to use the exercise: tick the notes and time signatures (or press a quick level) and press Start, then Listen. While it plays you can already choose the rhythm (A, B, C or D). When you answer, the right one turns green and, if you missed, you see on which beats your choice differs. The four rhythms share the same time signature and look very much alike: the wrong ones change one or two beats. You can listen to the dictation up to three times, and stop it with Stop.

What you can choose

Before you start, pick simple meters (2/4, 3/4 and 4/4) or compound meters (6/8, 9/8 and 12/8) at the top, then tick what may appear in the dictations, one box per item, and the time signatures. If you would rather not set anything up, the quick levels tick the usual combinations. In simple meters:

Notes: quarter note (UK: crotchet), half note (UK: minim), dotted half note and whole note (UK: semibreve).
Rests: quarter, half, dotted half and whole rests.
Eighth notes (UK: quavers), one beat: two eighths; eighth rest and eighth (the note off the beat); eighth and eighth rest.
Sixteenth notes (UK: semiquavers), one beat: four sixteenths; eighth and two sixteenths; two sixteenths and eighth; sixteenth, eighth and sixteenth; dotted eighth and sixteenth.
Two-beat rhythms: dotted quarter and eighth, and the syncopation eighth, quarter, eighth.
Triplets: eighth-note triplets (one beat), quarter-note triplets (two beats) and sixteenth-note triplets (two in one beat, triplet and eighth, or eighth and triplet). Eighth- and quarter-note triplets also come with a rest inside, in any of the three positions.

In compound meters, where the beat is a dotted quarter note (three eighths):

Notes: dotted quarter, dotted half and dotted whole note (which fills a 12/8 measure), and their rests.
Eighth notes (one beat): three eighths; quarter and eighth; eighth and quarter; eighth rest and two eighths; quarter and eighth rest.
Sixteenth notes (one beat): six sixteenths; two sixteenths and two eighths; dotted eighth, sixteenth and eighth.
Tuplets: the eighth-note duplet (two eighths in the space of three) and the sixteenth-note quadruplet (four sixteenths in the space of six), both one beat long.

Your choice is saved: you will find it ticked when you come back and in the other two exercises. And Copy the link with this selection gives you an address that opens the exercise with the same notes, for example to send to your students with the rhythms you are working on in class.

How to take a rhythmic dictation

Count with the metronome. The metronome measure at the start gives you the tempo and the downbeat: count with it ("1, 2, 3…") and keep counting in your head through the whole dictation, also when nothing sounds.
Beat by beat: does a note start, keep sounding, or is there silence? A note lasting more than one beat is a long note (half, dotted half, whole); if nothing sounds, it is a rest, which you do not hear but count.
If a beat has several notes, subdivide. Think of the beat split into two halves or four parts: two equal notes are two eighths; four, sixteenths; one long and two quick ones, an eighth and two sixteenths. If the notes split the beat into three equal parts, it is an eighth-note triplet. In compound meters it is the other way round: the beat divides into three eighths, and if it is split into two equal parts it is a duplet.
Split your listens. Both measures play each time, but you do not have to follow everything at once: the pulse and the first measure in the first listen, the second measure in the next one, and the whole dictation as a check in the last.

What gets mixed up most: the eighth-note triplet and an eighth with two sixteenths (in the triplet the three notes are equal; in the other the first is twice as long), syncopation and two quarter notes (in the syncopation the long note comes in off the beat), and the eighth rest with an eighth and an eighth on the beat (the note lands right between two clicks). And the quarter-note triplet: three equal notes in the space of two beats, which only meet the pulse on the first one. In compound meters, the duplet and the quarter and eighth: in the duplet both notes are equal and the second falls exactly in the middle of the beat.

What the dictations are like

Each dictation is made up on the spot from what you chose: two measures (UK: bars), all on the note G4 played by a piano. Every ticked box has the same chance of appearing, and what has already come up in the test appears a little less, so a hard rhythm shows up as often as the quarter note. Before each audio, one measure of metronome clicks plays at the same tempo, with a stronger first beat. The tempo is between 72 and 90 quarter notes per minute, a little slower (60 to 72) when you chose something with sixteenths. In compound meters the metronome beats the dotted quarter, at 54 to 66 per minute (44 to 54 with sixteenths).

Notes are written the way they are taught: two-beat notes start at the middle of a 4/4 measure, never across beats 2 and 3; the dotted half note fills 3/4 or starts on beat 1 or 2 of 4/4; the whole note fills 4/4. Compound meters follow the same rules: 6/8 is written like 2/4, 9/8 like 3/4 and 12/8 like 4/4, with the dotted quarter as the beat. There are never more than two beats of rest in a row (except with the long rests you choose), the first measure is never entirely silent, and consecutive rests that fit in one are written as one. The 10 dictations of a test are shared among the chosen time signatures and never repeat.

Frequently asked questions

What is a rhythmic dictation?

You listen to a rhythm and either write it or recognize its notation: the note values and rests, in their measures. It is practiced in music theory classes from the first years. In this exercise you choose among four written rhythms, with the notes and rhythms you tick.

Can I practice just one rhythm?

Yes: tick that rhythm and the quarter note (or another value to complete the measures) and untick the rest. Every ticked box has the same chance, so the rhythm you want to practice will come up in almost every dictation. For example, quarter note, two eighths and eighth-note triplet to tell the triplet from the eighths.

Why does a metronome measure play first?

So you know how fast the dictation is and where the measure starts: one click per beat, stronger on beat 1, at the tempo of the dictation. Count with it and keep counting silently while the rhythm plays, rests included.

How many times can I listen to the dictation?

Up to three times, and you may answer while it plays. After answering you can listen again as often as you like to compare it with the written rhythm.

Are there dictations in 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8?

Yes: choose "Compound meters" at the top of the panel and their notes and rhythms appear: dotted quarter, dotted half and dotted whole notes and their rests, the one-beat eighth and sixteenth rhythms, the duplet and the quadruplet. The metronome beats the dotted quarter, which is the beat of these meters. Your choices for simple and compound meters are saved separately.

How do I send my students a dictation with specific notes?

Tick the notes and time signatures and press "Copy the link with this selection". When the link is opened, the exercise starts with those notes already ticked. It works for all three exercises: which rhythm is playing, which audio is it, and writing the dictation.

Once you get most of them right, take the next step: write the rhythmic dictation note by note, with no options. For the opposite road, from score to sound, try Which audio is it?