Timing/New Pieces

[stuffradio]

How do you become an expert at timing? What's the best way to perfect your timing in every piece so it sounds proper and good? :p

Also what do you suggest to do when you are learning a new piece?

[landru]

How do you become an expert at timing? What's the best way to perfect your timing in every piece so it sounds proper and good? :p

Also what do you suggest to do when you are learning a new piece?

Well, I'm no expert, but this is something that I've had to work on very much in the last year or lessons after a 20 year self-taught nightmare...In other words, I have lousy rhythm sense and I am working to get rid of my bad habits.

Here are the things I do:

1. First find out how the rhythm/timing is supposed to go. This can be from CD's, mp3's etc. What I do is enter in the score in my computer score writer (I have an old Cakewalk program that is no longer available). Then I can playback the parts I want to focus on at all the different tempos I'm learning at. For instance a lot of times I have to start out at 20 bpm just to figure out some things - this is something you can't easily do with recordings! For instance, mazurka-like rhythms do not come easily to me and I learn them faster this way.

2. Count the rhythms. This helped me a lot early on n my lessons when I had such bad habits. My teacher had to drag me screaming to do them, but it does help. You should count at most one level above the shortest note if not at the level. In other words if the shortest note is an eighth note, you should count at least the quarter notes and you could even do the eighth notes when you need to.

3. Use the metronome. This helps me later to calibrate my counting. Before I am ready it is too distracting. It is useful especially when you can set the metronome to just click on the main beats since that will help with emphasizing the natural meter. I find that if I have the metronome click on every eight note in a 4/4 piece, I lose a lot of the rhythmical feel. But if I can do it on every quarter or even half note, I naturally can get some more feel into the music.

4. Clap out the rhythms. For a tricky rhythm part in a Chopin nocturne that I was learning before I went on a vacation - I memorised the rhythm by clapping. The week away from the piano was well spent since I nailed that part by clapping it throughout the week.

5. Lastly, record yourself! Your ear can really help you a lot when you don't have to coordinate your hands at the same time. In other words, rhythm mistakes will jump out when they didn't when you were playing.

Hope this helps. I'm sure more advanced people can tell you what works for them!

[virtuosic1]

How do you become an expert at timing? What's the best way to perfect your timing in every piece so it sounds proper and good? :p

Also what do you suggest to do when you are learning a new piece?

Is one of the elements of your question how to IMPROVE your sense, your perception of time? That is, developing a metronomic-like perception of tempo?

[usahockey]

-Work on reading the rhythms of pieces by clapping or tapping them out.
-Listen to a good player's recording of the piece to hear how it is done.

Those two work the best for me.

[stuffradio]

ok I will have to try practicing doing that, also how can you read the very high notes in the treble cleff? I have encountered high notes and don't know what they are :p

[amelialw]

sorry,my bro did that