Rhythm clapping.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.
 
      I am not exactly sure as to where to post this thread, as it doesn't quite relate to piano practice, but feel that the anything but piano board wouldn't do this thread justice.

In my college music theory class, we are naturally covering rhyth and meter, of course. One of the tasks is to be able to write down the correct rhythm that follows the time signature and being able to clap it. I undestand the rhythm that I write down, but it is my nature to take things more complicated once I get the basics. My rhythms now contain 32 notes intertwined with note values that will make clapping in fast tempo hard. I am not a natural clapper. I can't clap fast. Should I just take the tempo much slower.

I am sorry that I posted this useless thread.

[pianistimo]

i am guessing you mean 32nd notes.  imagine your teacher is very proud of this accomplishment and that you are learning the most by being curious about rhythms and how they operate.  yes.  if i were you, i'd take the clapping very slow and put words to the rhythms at first (at home).

quarter, two-eighths, four-six-teenth-notes, thir-ty-se-cond-notes-will-double-it...

and use a metronome at home - so when you get to class - your clapping is even.  something that helps me in reading music, also, is to draw a straight line down through both staves at each main beat.  then you can easily divide up the rest.

[debussy symbolism]

Thanks for the help. I guess I could try slogans, although the 1 e+ a notion distracts me. It is much better for me to just count out the beats in 32 notes because then I get a clear notion of when to clap.

[pianistimo]

kodaly likes to use 'ta' and 'ti' to distinguish main beats.  perhaps that would help?  or, just as you say - counting in your head.  some people can't do this evenly.  my old piano teacher likened it to automatic machine gun fire once.  i couldn't relate - as i've never fired one.  the metronome helps me.  i set it for the main beat and perhaps the mid-beat - and fill everything in evenly.

[faulty_damper]

Counting subdivisions are always difficult and confusing.  They actually cause more problems than they help solve.

Instead of counting subdivisions (i.e. 1e+a, 2e+a, etc.) MEMORIZE the sounds of the rhythms.  This way doesn't require much thinking and allows your mind to focus on other aspects of music notation.  It's very easy, and you'll be fluent in a couple of days if you practice it for a few minutes each day.  The alternative is much more difficult, more frustrating, and it will take you weeks to months to get a hang of but not be fluent.

[pianistimo]

but, a lot of rhythmic mistakes come from 'guessing.'  maybe a little of both ways?  imo, it is very tempting to play what you think it should sound like.  exact counting may take more time, but you've got it right from the beginning.

[debussy symbolism]

Exactly, concerning being able to actually know the rhythms. Sometimes when I write down a rhythm that I am sure I know, I later realize that I am either off or not following the note value. As I aquire more undestanding of rhythm notation I find myself being able to not make the same mistakes.

[faulty_damper]

When you go and practice these rhythms, there is no guessing.  You get it right and then practice the correct sound.  If you practice wrong, then it will be wrong.  You can use the 1e+a 2e+a method to get a sense of it and once you do, throw it out and just focus on the sound.  It should be very easy to do and hence very fast.