 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beejay (formerly barry)
Date: 2000-01-09 15:35
I would be extremely grateful if some of you wonderful musicians out there would share your methods on keeping time. I took up the classical clarinet about three years ago, having had no formal musical education before. My teacher tells me I have a good sound. I can read the notes OK. But, alas, I just cannot get the hang of counting the notes, even with a metronome. It's not that I lack a sense of rhythm, since I can play jazz well enough. That's part of the trouble. Since I can pick up things easily by ear, I tend to keep time by intuition rather than method. So what I need is a way of looking at a score and counting off the notes. How do you cope? Is there a better method than counting "one and a two and a" under one's breath.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-01-09 15:49
Barry, you sound like your experiences mimic mine!
I bought PianoScan to take some of my lessons and convert them to MIDI, and played along after. Then I did the same thing with duets. After using the computer as my "practice buddy" for the last year I've found that my counting has really improved; I was able to sightread through the Finzi Romance (from the 5 Bagatelles) a few weeks back - the timing was right, anyway :^) For me that was a milestone - I don't have a recording of the Bagatelles, so I couldn't "fake it" (I have a good memory for pitch & timing once I "get it", but sight reading requires you to really read & think).
I played many years in small jazz combos (bass) where I could be loose and "feel" my way around; in larger combos you have to be more strict, and in chamber music/orchestras it's even _more_ strict.
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Author: Jim Carabetta
Date: 2000-01-09 16:27
I like metronomes, but also in conjunction with the good ol' foot-tap, breaking the phrase up into what is played on the down-tap and what is played on the up-stroke.
Take a phrase, break it into individual beats, play it very slowly, even if it's one beat at a time, considering what's played on the down- and upbeats. You'll be surprised at how quickly the patterns stick, and you'll play the rhythym without thinking next time.
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Author: Eoin
Date: 2000-01-09 17:24
There is a very good method of learning about rhythm devised by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. There isn't room here to give the full details, but basically, there are names for each of the different types of note. A crotchet (quarter note) is called "taw". A pair of quavers (eighth notes) are called "tee-tee". A set of four semiquavers (sixteenth notes) is called "tirry-tirry". There are other names for other notes and combinations of notes.
You should first say the rhythm using these names, then clap the rhythm with your hands while saying the names, then play the piece.
Eoin
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Author: Meredith H.
Date: 2000-01-09 21:24
Eoin wrote:
-------------------------------
There is a very good method of learning about rhythm devised by the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. There isn't room here to give the full details, but basically, there are names for each of the different types of note. A crotchet (quarter note) is called "taw". A pair of quavers (eighth notes) are called "tee-tee". A set of four semiquavers (sixteenth notes) is called "tirry-tirry". There are other names for other notes and combinations of notes.
You should first say the rhythm using these names, then clap the rhythm with your hands while saying the names, then play the piece.
Eoin
I'll add on to this as I have used time names for years. My version seems a little different to Eoin's but it still the same idea.
1 half note - tah ah
1 quarter note - tah
1 eighth note - tay
2 eighth notes - tah tay
4 sixteen notes - taffah teffee
1 quarter note rest - sah
1 eighth note rest - ay
1 tripelet - tripola
6 sixteenth notes - taffah teffee tiffee
combinations:
eighth note followed by 2 sixteenth notes - tah teffee
2 sixteenth notes followed by an eight note - taffah tay
dotted eighth note and a sixteenth - tah fe
I hope I have named all of the notes right. I tried this once before but forgot the American note system and used the British crotchet/quaver/minim system and confused everyone. I think this is all I know which isn't too much help in 6/8 time. It takes a little while to learn all of the time names but once you know them I don't think it is possible to forget them.
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Author: Kim
Date: 2000-01-10 00:14
Counting is everybody's problem--even professionals! I have heard a professional orchestra play on TV(maybe Boston Pops) and the second chair trumpet player off a beat. It is something that everybody is self conscious of. The best way to work at it is to subdivide all of your music. If the piece were in 4/4 time then double it to 8/8. That would mean that sixteenth notes would be played as eighth notes, etc.
Another good thing to do is tap your foot. I have been told this by many a teacher, but I don't do it. My counting has improved so much though.
Listen to the music that you are playing to get a feel for the tempo and the notes so that you are less likely to rush. By listening, you also get a better sense of the style of the music.
I would also sing the music along with the metronome to better understand the music. If you can sing it, you can play it! Also, clap the rhythms. This will help your rhythm problems tremendously!
Don't be worried about a rhythm problem because it is everybody's problem. I am a very good player, but I had a really terrible rhythm problem until my second year in college. The fact that you play by ear will help you understand rhythms more. Apply your knowledge of tunes and and put the beat of a metronome to them.
Good luck!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-01-10 04:27
We had to clap and say the count in music theory class over and over severals times 'cuz some of the students were having a terrible time with it including, odly enough, an accomplished percussionist. I think what helped me the most was access to several old fake books full of every thing from the old standards, marches, some classical etc. I'd just open to a bunch of pieces I'd never seen before and go over it first visualy, doing the boo-dap-boo-dap-bap thing with my lips then try to play it. Tho my neighbors probably thought I was a little wacky, it helped me tremendously.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-01-10 05:08
If your rhythm is good by ear, then you might try rhythmic solfegio. That is a fairly standard way to count, based on the Kolday method of teaching reading to children.
A quarter note is Tah.
eighths are ti ti.
sixteenths are ti ree ti ree.
You say this in your head as you read and tap you foot.
dots are also said and any rhythm is easier to say then play. The one and two and stuff never flows, though it helps you keep your place.
If you have trouble with keeping the beat, get the program Earobics on the net. It has a good bunch of rhythm drills.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-01-10 05:08
If your rhythm is good by ear, then you might try rhythmic solfegio. That is a fairly standard way to count, based on the Kolday method of teaching reading to children.
A quarter note is Tah.
eighths are ti ti.
sixteenths are ti ree ti ree.
You say this in your head as you read and tap you foot.
dots are also said and any rhythm is easier to say then play. The one and two and stuff never flows, though it helps you keep your place.
If you have trouble with keeping the beat, get the program Earobics on the net. It has a good bunch of rhythm drills.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-01-10 15:14
This is probably their website. http://www.cope.dk/english/eardownl.htm
Sorry, I don't know how to make this a link.
The program also includes a bunch of eartraining other than rhythm. I got it for my kids and I am happy with it. Its fairly pricy to my mind, at about 70-80 US, but thats just around the price of one lesson, so...
The trial version is free, but frustrating because you can only examine it for a few min.
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Author: William
Date: 2000-01-10 16:21
When I play music, I don't "think" any particular system of beat divisions, sylables or etc. As a result of many years of playing experiance, I am able to simply read rhythms as they appear, just as you read words from the page of a book-- they "speak" to me and I simply do what they "say.". All of the above advice is sound, but what you really need is a lot of real playing experiance where you don't necessarily stop each time you make a little error, but keep on going and learn to play by the phrase--not by the note. A good understanding of arpeggios and scales is also helpful. AND, keeping the beat with your foot also helps. Keep playing.....the more "vocabulary" you acquire, the easier it will be for you to read.
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Author: Bart
Date: 2000-01-11 12:10
Besides paying special attention to the rythms you encounter in the music/studies you happen to be playing, studying from special rythm booklets is also very useful. This way, you can deal with rythmic patterns in a systematic way, progressing to more difficult rythms rather quickly (compared to the relatively slowly progressing rythmic difficulty used in ´normal´ etudes to be played on the clarinet).
I still practice regularly from a Dutch booklet, titled ´Maat en Ritme´, containing 150 exercises in rhytmic patterns.
The booklet progresses from quarter to eighth to sixteenth to 32nd notes, all in three stages: (1) without syncopation, (2) with syncopation, (3) with syncopation, rests, and upbeat.
At a cost of less than $10, it is more friendly to your bank account than the computer programs.
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