Applying Rhythm Ideas

Applying Rhythm Ideas

Applying Rhythm Ideas :   I recently completed the Music Rhythm Series which is a series of 12 books with exercises covering all rhythms from eighth notes to quintuples, sextuplets and septuplets.   Here is what the series primarily focuses on:      

• 1. Learning to play all common and uncommon rhythms.
• 2. Learning to sight read on multiple metric levels
• 3. Increasing the speed at which you can recognize AND PLAY these rhythms.  It includes midi files so that you can challenge yourself and check accuracy at any tempo.
• 4. Rhythms Volumes 6-12 add in an ear training element; an exercise where you can be actively involved or just listen to it as you do anything else.
• 5. Teaching your eye to read ahead of the music by using the “Beat Reading” concept. This is a simple but almost magical concept that will speed up your ability to read music amazingly fast.

There are actually a lot of additional exercises you can do once you get to the point that you can read through even just the first couple of books.

Applying Rhythm Ideas

Pick out a one measure rhythm if you play a melodic instrument, and add notes to this rhythm.  I did this a lot with the pitch class sets but it could be anything from a C scale to an arpeggio to a II V lick.

• 1st: loop the rhythm and the notes every measure
• 2nd: start to change the order of the notes but keeping the same rhythm
• 3rd: start using this rhythm to play through an entire tune in any style
• 4th: start using the rhythm to play through a set of chord changes you find challenging
• 5th: try playing the rhythm with both straight eighths and swing eighths.

What Applying Rhythm Ideas Will Do for You

You don’t need to do all of the above, but even a few of these activities will do the following for you:  

• Ingrain a new rhythm into your memory
• Help you to see rhythm problems when you loop an unfamiliar rhythm.
• Usually will help you realize if the scale, arpeggio etc… that you are using is sufficiently memorized.  Playing a note group that you know in an unfamiliar rhythm usually points out one’s deficiencies.

Applying Rhythm Ideas with Drum Beats

I also do this same process with a drum groove.  I use the Drum Genius app which is way cool.  Get the additional drum beat downloads.  Not only are the drum grooves great but it also allows you to change the tempo and the pitch of the drums.  But it doesn’t end there, many times it also gives you examples of real music where that groove was played.  That really helps a non-drummer to understand the different types of beats which helps you communicate with a drummer much more effectively.

I should also mention that when you play a random rhythm with a drum beat you will soon find out how well that rhythm works with a specific drum beat.  That is the beginning of you understanding drum beats and starting to improvise with appropriate rhythms when improvising.  Bottom line is your rhythms need to fit into the groove of the drum beat.  That’s quite important to be a successful member of a band.  The rhythms you use to improvise are actually more important than the notes you play.  If you don’t play within the groove no amount of notes will sound right.

Learning to Write in the Correct Metric Level

If you are a beginner at mastering rhythms then you might also consider the Rhythm Ear Training Video Course because that explains in what music you will commonly find the various metric levels covered in the  Music Rhythm Series.  This is priceless information because no one really talks about this; they just assume that (for example) you know that jazz is written with eighth notes and funk is written with sixteenth notes.  The Rhythm Ear Training Video Course talks about all types of music and gives you a list of examples that you can check, then search for, on the web via YouTube or iTunes.

The Rhythm Ear Training Video Course contains very important information because the last thing you want to do is write out a tune in the wrong metric level– the drummer will hand you your head, and the band will have a much harder time reading the chart.  This is true even if it’s just a chord chart with rhythmic notation.

Conclusion

Rhythm is easily the most under practice and misunderstood part of playing music. Musicians often want to concentrate of learn melodies or chords and don’t think about the rhythms that are connected to these pitches. When playing with a band there are two important factors that will be the most important. How the rhythms you play fit with the groove of the music and you be sensitive and listening to the other players so that not only your rhythms fit the music but also the volume at which you play is appropriate.

Bruce Arnold Music Education Genealogy Chart

You might enjoy checking out the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located on my artist’s site. You will clearly see the historic progression of pedagogy that is the basis for Muse Eek Publishing Products. Great musicians throughout history have been studying the ideas presented by Muse-eek.com which derives its content from a a lineage that stretches back to Scarlatti!