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An Explanation of Time Lines Color Blocks

The Time Lines Color Blocks are visual representations of how long each note value should be played in a rhythmic figure. They indicate the relative length of each note so that students can gain a clear understanding of how to play rhythms. For some students, these visual aids will not be necessary. However, for many students, the color blocks improve their awareness of how a rhythmic figure should sound.

The color blocks occur in the videos and images for the rhythm exercises, rhythm patterns, and melodic phrases of Time Lines by Kyle Coughlin. The rhythm exercise videos include the printed sheet music and the Time Lines Color Blocks, and they are animated with a visual marker that shows how time progresses, thus indicating when each note and rest starts and stops. Here is an example of Exercise E106 that shows how the Time Lines Color Blocks, standard music notation, and time marker all work together. The purple rectangles in the video show how long each quarter note should be played. There is no color block where the rest occurs because there should be silence on that beat.

The Time Lines Color Blocks and time marker are not intended to take the place of standard music notation. I have created these videos to help students see rhythmic notation in a way that can improve their practice habits and help them understand how music is written.

The audio examples for the patterns and melodies in Time Lines do not include any time line markers, which helps ween students from relying on the animations of the rhythm exercises. The Time Lines Color Blocks are provided to help you see and understand the rhythms, but you have to clap and play them on your own without the guidance of the marker moving across the screen.