Rhythm is perhaps the single most fundamental element of music. Rhythm in music refers to the pattern of silences and sounds that occur over time.
“Rhythm is to time what symmetry is to space.”
ABEL’s Rules 🎲
⚫️ The BLACK DECK™ represents the pulse and its (sub)divisions in the easiest way possible which are shown with rhythmic cells. Each cell is associated with a letter of the Latin alphabet.
The pulse is a steady beat that runs through the music. The pulse (sub)divisions are smaller parts of a beat.
1 CELL = 1 BEAT
The number of symbols (dashes and/or dots) on each cell tells you what the (sub)division of the pulse is:
1️⃣ A’ or A
2️⃣ B’ or B C D
3️⃣ E’ or E F G H I J K
4️⃣ L’ or L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
The dots represent the notes that must be played with the instrument of your choice (like claves for example).
The notes are musical sounds that have a pitch and duration. The pitch of the note refers to how high or low the note sounds. The duration of the note is the amount of time the note lasts.
The dashes represent rests or the duration of the previously played note.
A rest is the absence of sound production for a defined period of time in music.
ℹ️ If you use a musical instrument that allows you to control the duration of the note (like the guitar, the piano or the violin for example), you can choose to consider the dashes as rests or as the extension of the previously played note.
🟢🟡🔴 The color codes on the cells allow you to easily identify similar rhythmic patterns in different (sub)divisions.
It is important to first work on the cells with only dashes (A’B’E’L’) counting them out loud in order correctly and using a metronome to be comfortable when you have to play (A to Z).
A metronome is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM).
⚪️ The WHITE DECK™ represents rhythmic figures used in musical notation:
You will find these rhythmic figures in all musical scores. The notes are overlaid on a grid so you can see the note value at a glance and get a feel for how each one lines up with the imaginary grid behind it.
How to play?
ABEL Rhythm Dominoes ® PLAYING CARDS™ can be played alone but it’s even more fun together !
However you will always need one friend to play: the METRONOME.
Choose one or more cards to play (black cards/white cards or both) and set a tempo (speed measured according to beats per minute, the BPM) on your metronome, then play the correct rhythm corresponding to the right card on the right time.
When you’re playing with friends, set several rows of cards to play simultaneously. You can also ask your friend to swap cards during the game. To play rhythm, you can use your hands, body clapping, claves, drums, any percussion instrument or other music instrument like guitar or piano for example.
To know how to play the WHITE DECK™, use the BLACK DECK™ to easily know where/when to place the rests and notes.
Examples of rules:
- Call-and-response: One player performs one or more cards, the other one echoes him back.
- Improvisation: Choose cards at randomly, combining them however you choose. An instructor can facilitate students to improvise as a whole class, in pairs, or in other configurations.
- Rhythmic Dictation: An instructor can perform some of the rhythms, then have the students identify which cells were performed and in what order (e.g., cards P, O, U, and L). This is a way to encourage students to listen for the big picture and develop rhythmic dictation skills without worrying about the notation component of it. After students get comfortable with the activity, they can perform short dictations for their classmates.
- Performance Loops: The instructor (or a student) can point to or call out rhythms for the rest of the class to perform in a loop.
We wish you maximum amusement while playing and learning with ABEL and please never forget:
“We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to play. And ultimately, playing is fun. Perfectionism gets in the way of fun. A more skillful goal might be to find comfort in the process. To make and put out successive works with ease.“
Benefits of ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® ✅
- Improves rhythm and timing: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® is a great way to improve your rhythm and timing. The game requires players to listen carefully to the beat and match their cards accordingly. This can help to improve your overall coordination and musicality.
- Develops cognitive skills: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® is a challenging game that requires players to use their problem-solving skills, memory, and attention. The game can help to improve your cognitive abilities and keep your mind sharp.
- Encourages creativity: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® is a versatile game that can be played in many different ways. Players are encouraged to be creative and come up with their own strategies. This can help to boost your creativity and problem-solving skills.
- Fun and social activity: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® is a great way to have fun with friends and family. The game is easy to learn but challenging to master, making it perfect for players of all ages and skill levels.
- Promotes active listening: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® requires players to listen carefully to the beat and match their cards accordingly. This can help to improve your listening skills and focus.
- Can be played anywhere: ABEL Rhythm Dominoes® is a portable card game that can be played anywhere. This makes it a great option for travel or parties.
Blank cards are provided in ABEL Rhythm Dominoes ® PLAYING CARDS™ and can be downloaded to write the rhythmic figures yourself ✍
Are you a teacher? Or do you represent a music school?
Download our FREE Curriculum for public and music schools 🏫
Use this link to access a teaching space to arrange the ABEL designs as you wish!
Use a computer screen for projection onto a classroom screen 📽
Reviews 💬
ABEL Rhythm Dominoes ® – GHOST NOTES™ Edition
Dashes can be replaced with ghost notes for advanced players.
In music, notably in jazz, a ghost note (or a dead, muted, silenced or false note) is a musical note with a rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch when played. In musical notation, this is represented by an “X” for a note head instead of an oval, or parentheses around the notehead.
To go further with the drum 🥁
The possibilities offered by ABEL are endless, so if you want to go further and apply ABEL to the drums to work on a multitude of concepts, we invite you to work “Language Of Drumming” by simply replacing the letters from Benny Greb’s Rhythmic Alphabet with the letters corresponding to Abel’s Rhythmic Alphabet.
Here is an example :
“I’m using letters to create words that express an emotion. I wanted to develop a similar emotional connection in my drumming. After all, music is a language. It can make you laugh, it can make you sad, or it can make you dance. And the drum was one of the earliest tools used for communication, so it made sense to me to think of it this way.”
– Benny Greb
“When you look at basic beats as an alphabet there is no rudiment you won’t be able to play. So it’s more versatile in that sense. It prepares you for more artistic creativity in the long haul. This material will give you the facility to decode a lot of the other educational material out there, and by having that ability, you will be free to come up with your own exercises, and have more freedom to make musical choices on the spot while playing music.“
– Benny Greb
“A system so elegant that it challenges and inspires every individual from the novice’s first drum lesson to the master’s improvisation. The thought process behind a system like this is to give you a ground-zero on which to build your practice. It directs you towards approaching the drums as endless permutations of possibilities instead of just notes put in different places.”
– The Score Magazine
Some basic notions of music theory:
In musical notation, a rest is the sign used to indicate the absence of a sound for a defined period of time.
In musical notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the texture or shape of the notehead, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags/beams/hooks/tails. Unmodified note values are fractional powers of two, for example one, one-half, one fourth, etc.
The length of a rest corresponds with that of a particular note value, thus indicating how long the silence should last. Each type of rest is named for the note value it corresponds with, and each of them has a distinctive sign:
Relative value of rests:
Relative value of notes:
A single eighth note, or any faster note, is always stemmed with flags, while two or more are usually beamed in groups.
A note or rest value may be augmented by adding a dot after it. A dot added to the note or rest increases the duration of that note or rest by half.
Triplets in music are notes and/or rests connected by a bracket and indicated with a number 3, that equally divide a beat into three equal pieces.
ABEL Rhythm Dominoes ® PLAYING CARDS™ game is based on a time signature in x/4.
The time signature indicates two things. The top number tells us the number of beats in a measure, and the bottom number tells us the type of note that gets one beat. In musical notation, a measure (or bar) is a segment of music bounded by vertical lines, known as bar lines, usually indicating one or more recurring beats.
A 4/4 time signature for example indicates that there is the time value of 4 quarter notes per measure.
Each measure can have as many beats as the composer desires. For example: 2/4 or 4/4.
With ABEL Rhythm Dominoes ® PLAYING CARDS™ game, 1 PULSE or BEAT = the time value of 1 QUARTER NOTE (or REST).
How to count ?
Counting out loud is really helpful. It’s like a ruler that keeps the rhythm precise and measured. If you don’t count your rhythm it can be like trying to build a house without measuring anything. The counting method used in 4/4 can easily be adapted to any other time signature.
It’s crucial to introduce the “say-as-you-play” method through slow tempos and simple rhythmic notation such as quarter notes and quarter rests.
To go further in the pulse (sub)divisions ➗
Here is a scale of values which (sub)divides the quarter note up to 9 :
The different ways of writing (sub)divisions of time in musical notation 🎶🎵
Good to know 💡
Every time you move up a level in the (sub)division, you double the number of rhythmic possibilities.
In a (sub)division by 1, you have 2 rhythmic pattern possibilities. (A)
By 2, you have 4 possibilities. (B)
By 3, you have 8 possibilities. (E)
By 4, you have 16 possibilities. (L)
By 5, you have 32 possibilities. (B x E)
By 6, you have 64 possibilities. (E x E)
By 7, you have 128 possibilities. (E x L)
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By 8, you have 256 possibilities. (L x L)
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By 9, you have 512 possibilities! (E x E x E)
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By 10, you would have 1024 possibilities. (L x L x B)
By 11, you would have 2048 possibilities. (L x L x E)
By 12, you would have 4096 possibilities. (L x L x L)
Etc…
♾️
Counting complex rhythm through Karnatic Techniques ✨
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