First Beat ?

[kghayesh]

We have learnt that we must give special importance to the first beat of every bar. But i think it is a bit more robot-like and senseless to just accent the first beat. I think there are somes rules concerning this. I think it has to be more artistic rather than mechanical.

Any opinions ??

[rlefebvr]

That rule is really for Pop music and is not really applicable  for classical music.


1st beat and also the 3rd beat, but this is not engraved in stone, it all depends on the piece.

If you are playing solo, you can also accent the 2nd and fourth beat with the left hand, as this is the beats a drummer would accentuate, especially the fourth to announce the next mesure. That is why the snair is mainly used on these two beats. Again, this is not engraved in stone, but it works for almost all pop music.

[kghayesh]

I don't think this is exclusive to pop music. We find this rule many times especially in classical music (Beethoven, Mozart). Where a steady rythm is a crucial thing.

For example if you are playing a Mozart sonata with an alberti bass, Usually the first note is somehow shown more importance ( i will not say accented here ) than the other three notes.

The same if you are playing a waltz. Always the first beat is given more importance than the other 2 beats.

So, i am just saying this to clarify the point that this rule is not only applicable for pop music.

[rlefebvr]

Your talking left hand unless I am mistaken, where I was going more for the right hand.

I must have missread your first post.

[kriskicksass]

When talking about melody (which I'm assuming we are since you said RH), the rhythmic accent can be let slide a little. It helps to give the listener something to grab on to rhythmically, especially if the LH is doing something that cannot like a scaler passage or something, but the continuity of the melody is always more important than rhythmic accents. It's usually a bad idea to thump out the first note of each measure and break up the melody's line, especially if the music doesn't seem to call for it.