Klarinet Archive - Posting 000048.txt from 1999/09

From: Dan Sutherland <dsuther@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] Another Teaching question (rhythm)
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 14:03:17 -0400

Puzzlingly, by far the greatest amount of instructional time, regardless of
the level of the student, is consumed by correction of rhythm.
Not embouchure,
Not breathing technique,
Not articulation,
Certainly not interpretation.

Try this,
1. Count out loud as the student is playing, putting in the ands etc.
[Make the passage fairly short.]
Have the student count out loud as you play the same passage. Continue
to take turns until the student counts and plays the passage accurately.
2. Determine smaller tonguable rhythmic divisions. In cases where there
are dotted eighth sixteenths this will be sixteenth notes. Have the
student play a passage while tonguing the smaller divisions. Important!
Try to then alternate measures where you require rhythms tongued then as
written. Some students can tongue divisions competantly through an entire
piece but dismiss the lesson of the exercise when playing as written.
3. Devise a system where a student is required to analyse the rhythm
using pencil marks on the music. I like using a down pointing arrow for
main beats and an up pointing arrow for the next smaller division of the
beat. I then require the student to integrate the arrows with the motion
of a tapping foot. Arrow down - foot down, arrow up - foot up. After a few
weeks of requesting arrows on music the student usually submits to the
practise of at least acknowledging the aspect of a mathematical element in
music.
Further ramblings; Some physical involvement [the tapping of the foot,
the marching, the tonguing etc.] seems essential for development of
rhythmic skill. I would love to know exactly why.
There is an idealogical struggle in our minds about the quality that
makes music art as opposed to math or physics. Often this conflict can
result in the subjugation of some pretty obvious truths. Like... Sure you
played the correct note. But if it was played in the wrong place and held
for an incorrect length is it really correct? A million times, no! So,
try to have more notes landing correctly in time. The pitch just may
resolve itself.
Please note that my 3 points above require the student to be involved
creatively in the solution to their rhythmic foibles. I think success in
any teaching situation requires student engagement.

Dan

If merely telling people how to improve worked, my 12 year old would have
a tidy room, get top marks in school, not answer back, play violin,
clarinet and piano beautifully, sit straight at the dinner table, while
eating appreciatively the food placed before him, and do yard and house work.
Instead, I have a sullen pre-teen, lurking in my basement. Arrrgh.
[He is good, really. His parents love him.]

At 12:28 01/09/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Since we've had so many teaching questions lately, I figure I'd ask
>another....
>
>I have a student who just entered 7th grade. He has been studying sax with
>me for about 10 months by now. He is extremely dedicated and a joy to
>teach. HOWEVER, he has absolutely no sense of pulse, time, beat, etc...
>
>I work with him with metronomes doing rhythmic exercises from rhythm books
>on a regular basis. Part of his practice schedule is to practice rhythm
>without the horn in his mouth (counting, etc...). We then work on things
>like scales using these rhythms we have just worked on. Over the past few
>months, we have gotten to the point where he is doing ok with the exercises,
>but if he sees the exact same rhythm in a piece, he falls apart. He is
>consciencious, but the fact is he can't follow the metronome to save his
>life. If the horn is in his hands (not in his mouth), he can hardly even
>count with the metronome.
>
>He has a great sound, his technique is building slowly (he has only played
>for a year), and is a great kid. I just wish I could bring his rhythm up to
>the level of everything else in his playing.
>
>--Ben
>
>Benjamin Maas
>Freelance Clarinetist and Recording Engineer
>Los Angeles, CA
>benmaas@-----.com
>http://www.fifthcircle.com
>
>
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