In today's online classical guitar lessons we will discuss some ideas about understanding and feeling rhythm on different levels within the music.
In music, it's often helpful to begin with the general then to focus on the specific. One example is the concept of holding the guitar; if we don’t first address the aspect of sitting on a chair, we can never split hairs over the angle of a guitar support vs. a foot stool.
So the same is for concepts like feeling rhythm. We’re very familiar with feeling and hearing measures of four. “1-2-3-4.” We’ve also probably danced to this beat, and probably danced something in 3 as well. With rock music, we’re very familiar as well with accents on 2 and 4 from the snare drum, and this becomes an integral part of how we feel that music.
So on a basic level, we understand a somewhat localized version of rhythm on a per measure basis. If we want to we can zoom in further and talk about subdivisions of eighth notes, triplets, and sixteenths, or we can zoom out and talk about the pattern of sections, harmonic rhythm, or other predictable behaviors of the music.
When we zoom out, we begin to realize that much of the music that we hear is very predictable. It tends to behave in patterns of 2, 4, or 8. Even if the music is in triple time, or an odd time, even an irrational time, there are, more often than not, predictable cycles based on multiples of 2 or 4. Thus when we hear a dance track on the radio or when we see a rock band live, despite any “progressive” or “avant garde” ambitions, we can still anticipate the major changes in section. This is based on a macro feeling of the rhythm. We’re terribly accustomed to the feeling of these cycles, and so, even when we’re not paying close attention, we still likely know what’s happening. As performers we can use this to our advantage, especially when we’re playing very repetitive parts, like a Coldplay song; listen to your inner count that is keeping track of the groupings of measures as it will guide you to the next major section of the piece.
Zooming in, we might have a piece with subdivisions, perhaps eighth notes the whole way through, or triples or sixteenths. For a folk guitarist, you sometimes are finger picking sixteenths throughout but must feel the larger pulse of the quarter note. So how do we not get too local and obsess over each little note? The simple answer is to focus on counting the major beats, both while you learn and practice and while you perform. Doing this will help you to align the starting point of subdivision figures with their starting beat.
Yet, there is still some difficulty that develops when we have to play an extremely fast figure, for example tremolo or even just a complex arpeggio. The tendency is to learn to do play something like this extremely fast but out of context of the music. Inevitably we train our hands to just sort of do the thing, but when we play the part in the context of a piece, its rhythmic value is incorrect. Often it is moving at light speed vs. the actual tempo of the rest of the music.
We tend to feel the macro rhythm of the structure (4 bars or 8 bars, etc.) with our mind, cataloging the groupings as they go by. We feel the pulse of the measure or the major beats with our bodies, either in our feet, nodding our heads, or gently swaying; if dancing, also in our legs our arms and our hands. But micro rhythms can really only be felt in our fingers and if we listen close, in our ears.
To clarify flurries of faster subdivisions, we should work to play each note of the grouping deliberately, giving weight to each movement and clarity and volume to each note articulation. Of course make sure to slow down the tempo enough to do this, and as you speed up (gradually) be sure to maintain this as much as possible. The difficulty always arises as a sort of “doubting our powers” mindset when we start to believe that we need to speed up sooner than our technique has developed, so once again we might get to where we’re just doing a speedy gesture, but not really playing, feeling, or articulating the correct rhythm. Have faith though, and be sure to make deliberate movements in time at slow tempi, and as you work, you will program the correct rhythm and technique into your hands.
Craig Winston is a classical guitarist and teacher in Denver, CO. He offers guitar lessons online and in person at his studio in the Santa Fe Arts district.