Definition of Rubato

[faa2010]

What is rubato?

What does someone need in order to get it and improve it?

[mcdiddy1]

It's a performance techniques of speeding up or slowing down the tempo of the music based on the style of the composer, time period, or when indicated. It means robbing time and basically the principles are slowing down the music for an expressive effect and eventually returning it at a later point in the music. I think the best ito do is to find performances of famous performers performing music with rubato and imitating them.

Understanding music history and composer traits will help inform you of an appropriate time to use rubato or not. It is generally reserved for pieces of the romantic era although it can be effectively used in some classical pieces with good taste.i think knowledge is key to be able to do it assuming you have the technique to be able to slow down or speed up at will. I don't think it is something that can be practiced with the metronome or that it is effective to say you must use rubato here without explanation of why you need rubato here.

[j_menz]

Rubato is also the excuse lots of pianists use to slow down for passages they can't do properly, or to excuse a poor sense of timing/rhythm.

To improve your use of rubato, you need to improve your ability to feel the music and improve your underlying sense of the pulse of a piece.

I'm also going to stick my neck out and disagree that rubato has no place in music before the Romantic.  The metronome was invented in 1815, and rubato appears to have been invented about a nano-second later!  I'm guessing a certain flexibility was the norm before then, though how much could be debated (I'd suggest restraint).

[quantum]

You may wish to expose yourself to the polar opposite of rubato so you may hear what the complete absence of it sounds like: that is mathematically metronomic playing - not unlike straight MIDI output without any computational expressive affection programmed in.  Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back in order to distinguish what something contains or does not contain. 

mcdiddy's description of rubato is well put.

[gn622]

i always thought rubato was speeding then returning to original tempo...can't i do that?

[mcdiddy1]

Rubato is also the excuse lots of pianists use to slow down for passages they can't do properly, or to excuse a poor sense of timing/rhythm.

To improve your use of rubato, you need to improve your ability to feel the music and improve your underlying sense of the pulse of a piece.

I'm also going to stick my neck out and disagree that rubato has no place in music before the Romantic.  The metronome was invented in 1815, and rubato appears to have been invented about a nano-second later!  I'm guessing a certain flexibility was the norm before then, though how much could be debated (I'd suggest restraint).

I think the official term was used in the romantic era but Beethoven and Mozart used recatatives and fantasies with with improvised feel where rubato is typically used. I think like you said it should be restrained but it is certainly not the driving momentum that the Baroque music typically has

[iansinclair]

Of course you can speed up at some point in some pieces, and then return to the original tempo -- but that is not rubato.

The term "rubato" might be applied to aspects of performance practice for Renaissance and earlier New Music, where a certain flexibility in tempo is almost assumed.  I don't think I've actually heard it applied that way, though.  In even earlier music -- say Gregorian -- the notes (well... pitch indications!) don't have an assigned duration, so it's irrelevant.  It is certainly appropriate, though, to apply a tempo stretching to such things as partial and full cadences, for example, as well as sometimes to emphasize a particular phrase or word.  Always within reason and good taste!

[pianoplayjl]

The way I was taught, rubato is referring to rhythmic and expressive freedom without having to strictly adhere to the stated tempo.
But also remember not to exaggerate too much otherwise it will create a very unmusical sound, something that resembles Lang Lang a lot.

JL

[mcdiddy1]

The way I was taught, rubato is referring to rhythmic and expressive freedom without having to strictly adhere to the stated tempo.
But also remember not to exaggerate too much otherwise it will create a very unmusical sound, something that resembles Lang Lang a lot.

JL

Lol...I dont know why people bash Lang Lang so much. He is an internationally piano superstar who tends to be more physically expressive than most pianist. He certainly is an extreamly musical performer to reach that level of fame. My thing is if people closed their eyes and listen to his performance vs someone who they would prefer I doubt they would be able to tell the difference. It is not as if he goes Glenn Gould and obliterates the norms of interpretation.