In the May and June lessons, motivic development was discussed in terms of the underlying harmony. This time around we'll examine the rhythmic component of the previous examples.

In the first two measures, the rhythmic unit is consistently begun on the second eighth note of a two-beat unit.

The third measure starts out the same way but the motif is then displaced by another eighth note starting on beat four. This is an example of starting a pattern, then breaking it in a surprising way. If the previous pattern was maintained it would quickly become tedious.

Even though the next occurrence of the motif is again on the second eighth note of the unit, it has a different feel because there is no rest between units.