 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Clarinet phreak
Date: 2000-07-06 23:48
My sense of rhythm is pretty weak. I can't count very well at all, is that because I wasn't born with a good internal sense of rhythm or can it be learned in time? thanks!
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Author: Pam
Date: 2000-07-07 01:20
My teacher recommends just listening to as much music as I can and count out the rhythm with that. Also, if you have a clock with a second hand, you can count with that and learn what 60 beats per minute should be at.
He swears by this and he and his wife are the ones our orchestra leaders sometimes look to to see if the rhythm is about right.
Of course, a metronome could help too!
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-07-07 03:38
It just takes practice. I agree with Pam about listening to recordings. Listen to different types of music and try to figure out the count (meter) like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 etc. Also try the printed music you have. Even as adults we sometimes count out the rhythm (orally) in some music to understand the rhythm better. Then we play it. If it doesn't come out right, we count it out again till we get it. It works!
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2000-07-07 08:46
The Hungarian composer and music teacher, Zoltan Kodaly, devised a system for teaching music to everybody. He said that you don't have to be born with a sense of pitch or rhythm to learn music. His system is used all over the world but particularly in Hungary and Finland.
The Kodaly rhythm system assigns words to particular rhythms. A crotchet (quarter note) is called taw. A pair of quavers (eighth notes) is called tee-tee. A group of four semiquavers (sixteenth notes) is called tirry-tirry.
You should say the rhythm of the notes first, taw taw tee-tee taw and so on. The natural rhythm of these in English is the same as the musical rhythm. Say "sh" for a rest. When you have the rhythm established in your head, you should sing the taws and tee-tees in the right pitch. It doesn't matter if you're not a great singer. Finally, you should play the piece on the clarinet.
There are many variations on this method, with names for more complicated rhythms like dotted crotchet followed by quaver. If anybody is interested, I'l do a bit of research, by asking my nine year old daughter, who goes to a Kodaly method music school.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2000-07-07 16:18
Clarinet phreak wrote:
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My sense of rhythm is pretty weak. I can't count very well at all, is that because I wasn't born with a good internal sense of rhythm or can it be learned in time? thanks!
C.Ph. -
An excellent place to start is Hindemith, Elementary Training for Musicians. Despite the name, there's enough to keep you busy for years. It's HARD. Probably, it's best to find a class, but if you're serious, you can do it by yourself, or with a couple of dedicated friends to comiserate with.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: William
Date: 2000-07-07 16:33
Developing a good sense of rhythmn is deceptively hard to do--most major symphony auditions are decided on the candidates ability to play, not just the correct notes with acceptable phrasings and intonation, but playing musically with a precise sense of rythmic accuracy. The only way to develope this rythmic accuracy is through a lot of playing and ensemble experiance. A metromone is also a good way to begin. Everyone elses advice is good--good luck with your "counting."
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Author: Crazi Clari
Date: 2000-07-07 18:46
I've been playing clarinet since i was 10, but during the end of my freshmen year in H.S. i decided to take up drums, as well as the bassoon. The drumming has helped me enormously with counting rhythms (as is expected!) especially since before i wasn't great at counting! Since i learned how to count out everyting when i play (i DID however know how to count before though!), it's natural for me now to count out rhythms in my head without even thinking about it anymore. Now i'm not saying that you should take up drumming- but hey, it helped me out alot!
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Author: Rene
Date: 2000-07-07 19:16
Aren't there computer trainers available, just like ear training?
Rene
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-07-07 21:17
Learn rhythm away from the instrument first. Drums, clapping (I don't think singing does it, personally.)
I got Earobics, eartraining software, which has a fair rhythmic trainer for my less rhythmic kid. There seems to be some inate difference in my kids' rhythmic abilities, but Earobics has really helped the one with the less precise and natural rythmn. I've had him sink into the pulse a few times now when we play together! I consider this to be one of the major steps in being a good musician.
I am not naturally rhythmic, but have learned to be pretty darn precise. I had a wonderful Danish woman as my masters advisor in music and she took the time to work with me. She let me use her old Danish rhythm book (from her own school days). It was for clapping and singing. I was a thick as a phone directory for a BIG city and went from simple quarter notes to scary hairy double dotted things with sixty fourth notes. I thank her for making me clap rhythms against a metronome for a half an hour daily for a semster... I learned to feel the pulse.
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-08 03:33
I know what you mean, clarinet phreak, rhythmic counting is the one thing I can spend forever on and still never get it. Its just on of those things. The judge at region band auditions, siad on the form, great tone, superb technique, but severe lack of counting, for my sightreading pieces.
Sara
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-07-08 06:33
Two different approaches:
1. Get a cheap music program like Noteworthy Composer (http://www.noteworthycomposer.com) and enter questionable rhythms. It will play them back to you and highlight the notes as they are played.
For even more value, you can set it up on a dual-staff score like piano music. Program the bottom scale with quarter notes that play back as something goof for counting, like a woodblock. This will give you a steady pulse against which to measure the actual rhythm that you write in the upper staff. I use this method in the examples on my website.
2. Play duets with yourself using a tape recorder. Nothing teaches rhythmic self-reliance better than having to deal with yourself as a duet partner.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-07-08 14:03
Another key is to specifically practice rhythms separate from the notes themselves. Sing them, clap them, play them on a single pitch. Also work the rhythm slowly until you get it correct then gradually increase the speed. There are no shortcuts. Pick one rhythm and work it. Then another. Don't try to master them all at once.
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Author: Sara
Date: 2000-07-09 04:48
Everyone says basically the same thing, but I'm one of that large majority, who has little patience, but I'm working on it for next year. But it takes me forever to get with my metronome. I think I just tune it out and play, once I put my clarinet in my mouth.
Sara
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Author: laur
Date: 2000-07-11 03:33
Hey !
Some suggestions for you get Joel Rothman's " Teaching Rhythm" or any Rubank book. "Teaching Rhythm" is great.. easy.. hard at time.. but it works... Get a metronome - thoes things are Godsends. Count everything out - 1e+a ... 1+2+.. etc.. if that dosn't work, then foot tapping- find out where the up beats and where the downbeats are. - Always know.
Rhythm is not easy to learn, but you can .. I'm currently taking a beginner drum class just to get a better understanding, security of it.. Hang in there.. you'll get it in time !
Laurie
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