mrtrpt

Hi Andrew,

I was reading another post on your forum about practicing off the horn and you mention rhythm practice.

I do a lot of this with my students, which basically just involves counting and clapping the rhythm, or clapping the beat and singing the rhythm.

I was just wondering what kinds of ideas you have that I might share with my students and try myself.

Thanks,
MR

amtrpt

Hi mrtrpt,
What you have already said is basically what I do. One other thing that I find helpful is to clap the back beat and sing the rhythm. My best example because I'm an orchestral player is Petroushka. Take the dance solo and clap the back beat while singing the solo. I find two things when I do this. One, I'm not nearly as able to rush, and two it makes the solo so much more realxed, almost jazzy. It also turns everything around in an interesting way musically that you might not have thought of before.
I hope that's helpful.
Best,
Andrew

mrtrpt

Thanks Andrew.
MR

bigtiny

I'd also recommend a couple of things for rhythm practice to everyone:

1) The book by Robert Starer (I THINK it's called "Rhythmic Training for Musicians") is excellent. I have a friend who studied composition with Starer and I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by him. He was brilliant.

2) LEARN THE CLAVE!!!! Learn as much as you can about Latin and African music. This is where it all comes from....

bigtiny