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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000095.txt from 2004/01

From: ContraReed@-----.com
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Teaching Rhythm - Ideas
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 20:27:03 -0500

In a message dated 1/21/04 6:32:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,
Oboehotty@-----.com writes:

<< How does everyone out there start rhythm from scratch (from a teaching
aspect) so that when applied to a sightreading situation, students are more
able to
figure out rhythms (counting and playing) on their own, and to apply them to
music on a sightreading basis? >>

I use the concept that students should be able to look at a rhythm and know
exactly how it should "sound", not unlike a young reader seeing the letters
"c", "a", and "t", and immediately thinking of that squished animal in to road
(grin). Once they learn them, they have them for life. For people without a
lot of musical background, I like to use words to associate with various rhythms
(quarter note = pie, 2 eighth notes = ap-ple, 4 sixteenth notes = huckleberry
or Mississippi or Maserati or anonymous). I was able to get classes of 8th
graders in general music class to accurately play drum rhythms of quarter,
eighth, dotted-eighth, & sixteenth notes using these memory aids. I have one
young student at the moment who seems to have a real aptitude for music (even
though he does want to play the saxophone). He's only been studying for about 6
months, but he feels very comfortable reading and playing music with sixteenth
notes and in combination with eighth notes. When he looks at a new piece,
I'll see his lips moving with the words while he "analyzes" the rhythm
. Then he's ready to play it. As he gets a bit more advanced, I'll start to
do the traditional subdividing with him, but for the time being, I sort of
want to treat it sort of as in the Suzuki method - you learn how to do it before
you learn to read it.

Hope this helps.