Room 7

We're going to give you a little bit of a famous piece by Maurice Ravel titled Bolero. This is a piece that has driven people crazy ever since it was written because it's just the same two melodies over and over again as the music gets louder and louder. Pieces of music are usually written in one meter. So listen to this and figure out what the meter is. Listen!

Did you get it? The answer is three. If you didn't get it, listen again and begin counting 1,2,3 beginning with the first note. The brass chords are also a guide because they play on beats 2 and 3. Click on Listen! again to make sure you have it well in mind before you go on.

Now you're going to hear a different version of Bolero. Just as you did before, think about what the meter is. This time a clarinet plays the melody. Listen!

First of all, did you recognize that this piece is just a slightly different arrangement of the original melody? If you didn't get that, better listen to the original again. What was the meter in this case? It's in 4! But the original was in 3. Well, depending on the way you play it, it can be both. The latter was Fletcher Henderson's arrangement of Bolero, recorded by Benny Goodman in 1939.

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