Playing Fraction Pies
- adding fractions to make rhythms -

Welcome to my page on playing fraction pies. I'm featuring three videos from my Math and Mariachi presentation on Connecting Music Notes and Pie Fractions, Clapping Mariachi Rhythms, and Playing Shakers with Aztec Rhythms. I hope you enjoy them!

Part 1: Connecting Music Notes and Pie Fractions. Phil shows how musical notes are measured in time, and lays the foundation for constructing rhythms.

Part 2: Clapping Mariachi Rhythms. Phil builds two Mariachi rhythms (Son Jaliscience and Son Jarocho) and a rock rhythm, and then plays music from modern day Mexico using fraction pies.

 Part 3: Playing Shakers with Aztec Rhythms. Phil guides the students in an activity featuring rhythms and songs from ancient Mexico. The rhythms are from the 16-century document, Cantares Mexicanos, and use Aztec Drum Syllables written in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Learn more at Phil's Aztec Drum Rhythms page.

 

   Fraction                 Note                 Description
A whole pie equals a whole note.  It will last four beats.

 

   
1/2 of a pie equals a half note.  It will last two beats.
   
1/4 of a pie equals a quarter note.  It will last one beat.
   
1/8 of a pie equals an eighth note.  It will last a half of a beat.
   
1/16 of a pie equals a sixteenth note.  It will last a quarter of a beat.

A dot placed after a note increases its value by one half.   

   Fraction                 Note                 Description
3/4 of a pie equals a dotted half note.  It will last three beats, since its value equals a half note and a quarter note tied together.
   
3/8 of a pie equals a dotted quarter note.  It will last one and a half beats, since its value equals a quarter note and an eighth note tied together.
   
3/16 of a pie equals a dotted eighth note.  It will last three quarters of a beat, since its value equals an eighth note and a sixteenth note tied together.. 

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