 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bpou
Date: 2003-07-30 14:26
I have been playing the clarinet now for 6 years, and still I am having problem while counting and keeping the rhythm. Do you have any advise how can I improve my playing? How did you learn to count? What would be a good exercise.
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Author: GilliganGirl
Date: 2003-07-30 14:44
I had (and still have) the same problem. This method helps me a lot. First, mark--with a line, star, or whatever--every beat in the music. Sometimes, it's easier to start at the end of the measure. Then, put on the metronome to a slow tempo and tap out the rythyms. This helps you figure out exactly what notes fit into the beat. Then, play the rythyms on the clarinet at a slow tempo. When you get confident, bump up the tempo at small intervals until you reach the speed you want. It also helps just to practice counting. Pull out some simple, begginer music and practice with that. It will probably be easy, but I think its good the start with the simple stuff and work up. You can also think of some rythyms in easier terms. Like a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth is a "long, short" that fits into one beat. And, you've probably heard this a thousand times, but subdividing in your head really does help.
--Bekkah
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-07-30 16:41
In a jazz method book I have, they give scat syllables for common notes . . . Very helpful, in my opinion, as I've always had trouble reading music period.
Swung eigths are "doo-bah"
Quarter notes are "dit" on beats 1 and 3, "dot" on beats 2 and 4
Long notes on the beat are usually "doo"
So, if you take a look at http://members.lycos.co.uk/jazzpix/txteapartybb.gif, it would be read (note that all "doo"s are not the same length): (count 1, 2, 3) doo-bah | doo doo bah | doo-bah doo bah | doo bah doo bah | doooooooo
It also helps you tap your foot to line up the beats using this method.
---------------
As far as reading "straight" rhythms, I usually just subdivide, but I'm still not great at reading. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread for other tips!
Post Edited (2003-07-30 16:48)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-07-30 17:03
To Do Is To Be? - Sartre (1940)
To Be Is To Do? - Descartes (1640)
Doo-bee Doo-bee Doo - Sinatra (1966)
...GBK
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-07-31 03:56
"If I were a Flintstone
Yabba-dabba-dabba
Yabba-dabba-dabba-dabba-do . . ."
(backstage antics heard by audience, circa 1995)
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2003-07-31 04:35
What does your private teacher say about your counting? (If you don't have a teacher...)
Take a few lessons with a good percussion teacher, being very honest in stating your reasons for wanting lessons. If you are at a school with a marching band, talk to the percussion clinician (if there is one) about working with you.
Do buy a metronome if you don't have one, and use it every day!
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-07-31 05:05
Gilligan Girl stole my first idea! But here's a second.
Practice every rhythm possible. It'd help if you took the time to write them out. Start with a measure of whole notes, then half, then quarter, then quarter note triplets, then eight, then it gets tricky. Do dotted quarter, eight, dotted quarter eight. Reverse it (eight, dotted quarter). Do eigth, two sixteenths, eigth. Two sixteenths, eigth eigth. Eigth, eigth, two sixteenths. Practice these WITH A METRONOME on a slow setting, gradually getting faster.
This way not only will you have certain rhythms driven into your head, but you'll recognize them when you see them in music. Do them in scale practice as a warmup before playing. Then mix it up. Triplet, quarter quarter, eigth sixteenth sixteenth (repeat). As well as driving certain commonly used rhythms in your head, it'll help even out your playing and help you to subdivide better.
Or listen to someone play the piece. While there's a slight chance they'll have a different rhythm in a certain spot, you should get the gist of things as you hear it. And follow along as they play (don't play along, follow along with your eyes).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-07-31 14:09
Attachment: write_song.pdf (12k)
Counting problems are common with young band/orchestra musicians. This is because of the distraction of trying to finger and trying to count at the same time--while thinking about both.
Do you know your scales? It's amazing just how much easier counting becomes when the fingers have achieved some automation.
Priorities are another problem. Most students want so much to hit the correct pitch, that they will sacrifice their rhythm to do so. Any professional will tell you to get the rhythm right even if a pitch gets sacrificed.
You haven't told us at what difficulty level rhythms bother you. If you deal with a lot of syncopated rhythms and tied-over notes, I have two suggestions:
1 - When practicing something with tied-over notes, practice a few times without observing the ties. This will get all your notes accounted for. Then put the ties back in and see if you feel it better.
2 - If you find your self jumping too quickly off of tied-over notes, simply do something physical to mark that note. Move your elbow, nod your head, or even take a breath, in order to keep from starting the next note early.
GilliganGirl has provided the best immediate solution. A longer-term solution is to really learn rhythm in general. There are several training books on this subject, some of which include CDs.
A good start on learning to understand rhythm can be had by reverse-engineering a song that you already know. Sing it to yourself over and over, first figuring out the meter, then the location of the strong beats, then find the rest of the beats. Attached is a worksheet that I use to help my students put rhythm to songs that they play by ear. See if that approach helps you.
Allen Cole
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Author: allencole
Date: 2003-07-31 14:31
BTW, sfalexi is quite right in pointing out the need for a lot of repetition in working on your rhythms.
If you can't find a specialized rhythm book to work with, the Master Theory Workbook (vol. 1 & 2) does a very good job for my students. If you don't hae a private teacher, you could do the paperwork, try to sound out the rhythms, and make yourself audible examples to check yourself by copying the exercises in a cheap notation program (like Noteworthy Composer) and using the playback feature for sound.
You can also use this approach with rhythms of your own making. In your notation program, use two-stave systems. In one staff put staccato quarter notes (or eighth notes) to function as metronome clicks. In the other staff, write rhythms. This will allow you to analyze your mystery rhythms against a pulse.
Allen Cole
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Author: wyatt
Date: 2003-07-31 16:30
one book that you may want to check into is "encyclopedia of reading rhythms" by gary hess.
i was able to get through the first two pages..
bob gardner}ÜJ
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Author: William
Date: 2003-07-31 17:39
Ultimately, it's really like everything else and quite simple--the more you do it (music reading) the better you will get. After you develop a good throretical understanding of all note relationships, the rest is just practice and a lot of accululated performing experiance. A metronome is only a "speed moniter" which will keep your tempo steady, but you must do the "math" and learn rhythmic values of the notes and how they relate to each other. "How do you get to Carniege Hall? (answer) "Practice, man, Practice." Old joke, but kind of true....................
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Author: diz
Date: 2003-08-04 03:39
If you are having problems then your teacher could be advised to play a lot of easy duets with you - especially ones with simple rhythms. Lazarus I has a heap - they're not particularly brilliant writting but they're not unpleasant, either.
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2003-08-08 23:18
You need the book Rhythmic Training by Robert Starer published by MCA Music.
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