Down In The Valley

7. Really watch this one, Down In The Valley.

Down in the val-ley, val-ley so low,
Hang your head o-ver, hear the winds blow,

The first step

(a) At the smallest level (beating all the shortest notes), the feet will beat quite fast.
     Remember that you do not know if this smallest level is binary or ternary.
          Try binary first, listen to the words, and if it feels uncomfortable, try ternary.
               Listen closely to the word val-ley, the key to this level.
     On the very first note,
          start on either R, L, or possibly T, and see if you end on R.

Once you have found on which foot to start, check by looking at the Animation
     as you see, this level starts on R.
This is a ternary level and
     you will have the feeling of Beats and Off-beats at this smallest level.
Repeat it several times to get this feeling into the feet.
     Notice how the Melody and the Words fit with the feet.
     Notice that, on the fourth, fifth, thirteenth, and fourteenth notes,
          there were three beats, and
               on the ninth and last notes there were six beats.
          These notes are proportionally longer than the others.
     Notice also that, on these longer notes,
          the feet were R-L-T, or R-L-T-R-L-T,
               as they should be in a subdivision.

Since this level started on R,
     it will not produce a pick-up at the next larger level.

The second step

(b) At the next larger level, the feet will beat three times as slowly.
     As you sing the melody, on the very first note,
          start on either R, L, or possibly T, and see if you end on R.
               Remember that the level might be binary or ternary.
                    Pay special attention again to the word val-ley, which should be RL and not LR.

Once you have found on which foot to start, check by looking at the Animation
     as you see, this level starts on T.
This is a ternary level, and
     you will have the feeling of Beats and Off-beats at this next larger level.
Repeat it several times to get this feeling into the feet.
     Notice how the Melody and the Words fit with the feet.

Since this level started on T,
     it will produce a 3-note pick-up at the next larger level.

The third step

(c) At the next larger level, the feet will beat three times as slowly, with 3 notes of pick-up.
     As you sing the melody, on the fourth note,
          start on either R, L, or possibly T, and see if you end on R.
               Remember that the level might be binary or ternary.

Once you have found on which foot to start, check by looking at the Animation
     as you see, this level starts on L.
This is a binary level and
     you will have the feeling of Beats and Off-beats at this larger level.
Repeat it several times to get this feeling into the feet.
     Notice how the Melody and the Words fit with the feet.
     Notice that the longest note of the melody is
          not longer than the Beats of this level.
We have found Level 0,
     and there is no point in seeing Level +1, Level +2 ... which are all binary.
We now know that the smaller levels were what we call Level -4-3 and Level -2-1,
          two ternary levels in a row.
  

Those on a guided Tour should click on in the Navigation Bar below.

Those browsing might like to see the
Graphics
of the ternary levels of these 4 songs.