adapted by Gary Garner, Professor Emeritus, West Texas A&M University
The following page is based on a handout provided to music education majors by the West Texas A&M University Band Department. The handout summarizes the Eastman Counting System1 in five simple rules and explains two commonly encountered exceptional cases.
Rules
1. A note that comes on a beat is called by the number of that beat in the measure.
2. A note on the second half of a simple beat is called “te” (tay).
3. A note on the second third of a compound beat is called “la.”
4. A note on the last third of a compound beat is called “li” (lee).
5. A note that occurs anywhere else is called “ta” (tah).
Special Cases
In asymmetrical meter, all eighth notes not on a beat are called “te.”2
In two-beat triplets, the second note comes on the last third of the beat and is therefore called “li” while the third note comes on the second third of a beat and is called “la.”
In four-beat triplets, the syllables revert to their original order since the second note comes on the second third of a beat and the third note on the last third of a beat.3
- Allen Irvine McHose and Ruth Northup Tibbs, Sight-Singing Manual, 2nd ed. (New York: F.S. Crofts & Co, 1945). ↩︎
- McHose does not address asymmetrical meter. This method is proposed by Garner. ↩︎
- McHose, 59. The method presented here by Garner differs from that of McHose, who names this phenomenon “superimposed meter.” McHose employs the syllables associated with the implied meter. ↩︎