
Other than all the methods in the last post, another great technique we can use with a metronome is the process of changing the rhythm from what is written to make the passage more simple, or more difficult. This technique is common among string players, but is also very useful to us as wind players. We will use any passage with a constant rhythm as an example (ie. eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.). Once you get the idea, you can apply this to literally any passage of music you want!
So, the idea is to ingrain the technique needed to play a line by practicing it many different ways rather than the same way over, and over....and over again. When teaching I always use a sports metaphor to describe this; If Leo Messi can only hit a good shot consistently from one single spot on the field, he is not that useful is he? The reverse of this is true also, if you want to be able to have decent consistency from anywhere on the field (within reason), you better practice from many different angles, distances, etc. For us as musicians, one of these variables is rhythm
Now that we have our constant eighth note lick, here are a few ways to rhythmically alter the group.
Groups of 4:
These are pretty simple and self explanatory. The benefits gained from practicing with these permutations are coordination, accuracy and time awareness, to name a few. Now for groups of three:
Triple:
Be creative and make up your own rhythms. One thing I like to do us use a pattern that purposefully does not fit the phrase. For example, if I have a run of sixteenths, I will use the second or third pattern listed under the "triple" meter exercises. Or, take a phrase of all triplets and play them as dotted eighth - sixteenths. We are essentially at this point creating a new passage using only the notes written, but coming up with our own rhythm. Using these unrelated patterns helps to emphasize random and odd notes that might otherwise be ignored.
Soon, I will put all of these different rhythmic ideas into Finale and have an attachment, which will undoubtedly be more clear and easy to understand than my descriptions in text. There are very few rhythms listed here, but challenge yourself to make the passage more challenging than it has to be, that way, when you go back to playing what is on the page, it seems easy. Off the top of my head, some trumpet excerpts that can easily be improved using this process are the opening or Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, Stravinsky's Petrushka dance, Ives' Variations on America, Smith's Festival Variations, and all of those pesky descending sixteenth lines in the first movement of the Tomasi Concerto.
Let me know how it works out!
So, the idea is to ingrain the technique needed to play a line by practicing it many different ways rather than the same way over, and over....and over again. When teaching I always use a sports metaphor to describe this; If Leo Messi can only hit a good shot consistently from one single spot on the field, he is not that useful is he? The reverse of this is true also, if you want to be able to have decent consistency from anywhere on the field (within reason), you better practice from many different angles, distances, etc. For us as musicians, one of these variables is rhythm
Now that we have our constant eighth note lick, here are a few ways to rhythmically alter the group.
Groups of 4:
- dotted eighth - sixteenth
- sixteenth - dotted eighth
- quarter note - three triplets
- three triplets - quarter note
These are pretty simple and self explanatory. The benefits gained from practicing with these permutations are coordination, accuracy and time awareness, to name a few. Now for groups of three:
Triple:
- even triplets
- dotted triplet, sixteenth, triplet
- triplet, dotted triplet, sixteenth
- eighth - two sixteenths
- two sixteenths - eighth
- sixteenth - eight - sixteenth
Be creative and make up your own rhythms. One thing I like to do us use a pattern that purposefully does not fit the phrase. For example, if I have a run of sixteenths, I will use the second or third pattern listed under the "triple" meter exercises. Or, take a phrase of all triplets and play them as dotted eighth - sixteenths. We are essentially at this point creating a new passage using only the notes written, but coming up with our own rhythm. Using these unrelated patterns helps to emphasize random and odd notes that might otherwise be ignored.
Soon, I will put all of these different rhythmic ideas into Finale and have an attachment, which will undoubtedly be more clear and easy to understand than my descriptions in text. There are very few rhythms listed here, but challenge yourself to make the passage more challenging than it has to be, that way, when you go back to playing what is on the page, it seems easy. Off the top of my head, some trumpet excerpts that can easily be improved using this process are the opening or Ravel's Piano Concerto in G, Stravinsky's Petrushka dance, Ives' Variations on America, Smith's Festival Variations, and all of those pesky descending sixteenth lines in the first movement of the Tomasi Concerto.
Let me know how it works out!