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Composer's Handbook

Rhythm and Meter

Where the weight falls.

Rhythmic Displacement

The idea: Rhythmic displacement shifts a motif to a different position in the bar.
Try this: Bring a motif back one eighth note later than it first appeared.
Example: A figure that began on beat 1 now begins on the “and” of 1.

Syncopation

The idea: Syncopation places emphasis where the meter does not expect it.
Try this: In 4/4, start a note on the “and” of beat 2 and tie it over beat 3.
Example: Quarter, eighth, quarter, eighth, quarter. The third note starts on the “and” of 2 and holds through beat 3, so beat 3 has no new attack.
Listen for it: Joplin, The Entertainer

Hemiola

The idea: A hemiola regroups six beats as three groups of two where the meter implies two groups of three.
Try this: In 3/4, write three half notes across two bars.
Example: A pair of 3/4 bars holds six quarter beats. Grouped 2+2+2 as three half notes, they sound like one bar of 3/2.
Listen for it: Schumann, Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish), first movement

Polyrhythm

The idea: A polyrhythm sounds two conflicting rhythmic divisions at the same time.
Try this: Write a triplet melody over a steady accompaniment in two even notes per beat.
Example: The right hand plays eighth-note triplets, three to a beat. The left hand plays two eighth notes per beat (3 against 2).
Listen for it: Debussy, Arabesque No. 1

Ostinato

The idea: An ostinato is a short pattern repeated persistently while other parts change.
Try this: Repeat a two-bar rhythmic pattern while the harmony changes above it.
Example: Repeat quarter, two eighths, quarter, quarter under C and then Am and then F and then G.
Listen for it: Holst, The Planets, Mars

Additive Meter

The idea: Additive meter builds a bar from unequal groups of twos and threes.
Try this: Compose in 7/8 grouped 2+2+3 and make the grouping audible.
Example: Accent the first, third and fifth eighth notes, counting ONE-two THREE-four FIVE-six-seven.
Listen for it: Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6, second movement (5/4)

Metric Modulation

The idea: Metric modulation changes tempo by making a note value in the old tempo equal a different one in the new.
Try this: Let the quarter-note triplet of the old tempo become the new quarter note.
Example: At quarter = 60, quarter-note triplets move at 90 per minute. They become the new beat: quarter = 90.

Rhythmic Augmentation

The idea: Rhythmic augmentation restates a rhythm in longer note values.
Try this: Present a rhythmic phrase in quarter notes and then in half notes.
Example: Quarter–quarter–half (one bar of 4/4) becomes half–half–whole (two bars).

Silence as Structure

The idea: Rests placed regularly can define the phrase shape as clearly as notes.
Try this: Replace the last beat of every second bar with a rest.
Example: In 4/4: bar 1 four notes, bar 2 three notes and a quarter rest, repeated.

Cross-Accent

The idea: A cross-accent pattern places accents that conflict with the meter.
Try this: Stay in 4/4 and accent every third eighth note for two bars.
Example: Across sixteen eighths, accent numbers 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16.

Other chapters: Motif and Melody · Harmony and Tonal Motion · Counterpoint and Voice Leading · Texture and Instrumentation · Form and Architecture · Expression and Narrative · Jazz and Contemporary · Electronic and Acoustic Design · Revision and Craft

Not every technique suits every style. Adapt it to your instrument and your music.

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