Ukejenny
Well-known member
Just read what I wrote and I'm not sure if it makes any sense. What I meant, Jim, is that the way you did it - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 with the bold on 1, 3, 5 and 7 does indeed work, but for me to get it up to any kind of tempo, my mind will make that into 1& 2& 3& 4&a - and to go super fast, 1-2-3-4&a.... And then I can fly. It is a trick to take the subdivisions of the beats and distill it down into something that can go really fast.
In a related matter - I had a band director tell me that little word rhythms were bad for band kids. If you are doing a measure of sixteenth notes, you should count it as 1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a... And that my my trick of saying Al-a-ba-ma... was teaching them wrong.
I disagree for a few reasons. First, I don't just teach Alabama - I also show them how the syllables fit in with the counts. Second, you can go wicked fast if you do it that way. Third, my students who compete usually place high, meaning they can fly through 16th notes.
And when you get right down to it, the judge doesn't know what you are thinking. They are just amazed at how fast you can go through it, and how well you can count.
When it comes to performing, you do what works for you. The listener won't know how you arrived at your performance, but they will hear it and judge. The longer I teach, the more I understand that some things need to be flexible.
In a related matter - I had a band director tell me that little word rhythms were bad for band kids. If you are doing a measure of sixteenth notes, you should count it as 1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a... And that my my trick of saying Al-a-ba-ma... was teaching them wrong.
I disagree for a few reasons. First, I don't just teach Alabama - I also show them how the syllables fit in with the counts. Second, you can go wicked fast if you do it that way. Third, my students who compete usually place high, meaning they can fly through 16th notes.
And when you get right down to it, the judge doesn't know what you are thinking. They are just amazed at how fast you can go through it, and how well you can count.
When it comes to performing, you do what works for you. The listener won't know how you arrived at your performance, but they will hear it and judge. The longer I teach, the more I understand that some things need to be flexible.
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