How to Develop Confident Rhythm Readers
Sight reading is a skill we admire and aim to attain for ourselves and our students.
Although pitch, interval, and pattern recognition are essential, I noticed that my sight-reading skills skyrocketed when I began to
Rely heavily on chord recognition and competency in all keys.
Unravel the mystery of rhythmic notation.
Improvise with chord progressions within rhythms.
I was forced to do #1 and #2 when reading new anthems and plunking out SATB parts at weekly choir rehearsals. Playing with the worship band demanded #3.
So..it’s my goal that students recognize pitches and intervals, and also gain an above-average knowledge of chords, and acquire strong rhythm reading skills. With this foundation, I believe sight-reading skills develop mixed with plenty of reading experiences, of course.
As the saying goes…
”The right note at the wrong time is a wrong note."
So..in this post, I share how I train students to be rhythm detectives on the hunt for the right notes at the right time.
🔍 TRaining Rhythm Detectives
Here’s a brief scaffolding of how I approach my rhythm “boot camp”–not necessarily in this order, but close.
Feel a steady beat in the body by clapping, moving and drumming.
Play duets and repertoire with backing tracks.
Hear a rhythm and play it back with a steady beat.
See a rhythm pattern and say words or phrases to match rhythms (functional counting).
Improvise within rhythms.
Identify and understand note values.
Recognize that all beats have two parts–either on or off—and that is why many count with &s. (Learn more about how I introduce this here.)
Know what both numbers indicate in the time signature (that bottom one takes a while!)
Identify the location of every beat in a measure.
Align an internal pulse with an external beat–play with a metronome.
Recognize beams as best friends.
Identify simple and repeated rhythms that provide clues to unlock the tricky ones.
See a rhythm pattern and count aloud while playing. (metrical counting).
Counting with &s in my studio is always optional. When a tricky rhythm arises, it doesn’t matter how it’s counted, it just matters that it’s counted to help the eyes track it.
“Autumn Mist” by Christopher Fisher, Piano Safari Level 3
For example, in “Autumn Mist” by Christopher Fisher in Piano Safari Repertoire Book 3, I let students choose how to count the eighth notes.
WATERMELON WATERMELON
or
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
or
1234 1234
Most prefer 1234 1234.
The beams show that there are two sets of WATERMELONS or four 8th notes per measure. When the eyes spy the beams, they clarify on what beats the right hand plays.
To test students ability to spot the location of beats in a bar, I may ask:
Q: On what beat do you play the 8th notes in bar 5?
A: On 4 or the & of 4 or “lon” of WATERMELON.
When readers get in the habit of looking for the simpler or repeated rhythms, it gives them hot leads for reading the trickier ones.
“Song of the Mermaid” by William Gillock, Lyric Preludes
In “Song of the Mermaid” by William Gillock from his Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style, 16th notes may look intimidating, but then I ask students two things.
Q: What hand plays the simpler rhythm?
A: The right hand, it mostly plays quarter notes.
Q: What do the beams show you?
A: Four 16th notes in every quarter note. Each new beam is a new beat.
To test students' ability to relate the duration between notes, I may ask a question like
Q: What measures show you how many 16th notes are in a half note.
A: Measures 2, 4, or 5.
Nudging rhythm readers to spot simple or repeated rhythms and recognizing how note values in one hand can help clear up the mystery in the other lets them view rhythm through a logical lens.
“Moonlight Mood” by William Gillock, Lyric Preludes
After listening to her options from the National Federation of Music Clubs Bulletin, my student Maddy (learn more about her harmonious passion for music here) chose “Moonlight Mood” by William Gillock as her required piece. I think she would have passed if she had seen the sheet music first!
We approached the piece in the same way we would any other. She listened to it first to get a bird's-eye view. After reviewing the scale and chords, we dug into the rhythm.
Because of the time signature and the appearance of many 8th notes, Maddy deducted two sets of 8th notes in each bar and decided to count 1234 1234 for each measure.
The piece begins with an 8th rest, and beams are divided between the hands. Thus, the first part of the measure was designated as “tricky.” We looked for clues and spotted a half note in the left hand in bar one. That gave her information about where beat 3 began—the second group of 1234.
Because of the rhythm complexity of each measure, I got out my cool see-through ruler, and Maddy drew a line between before beat 3 in each measure. This tactic enabled her to see where the next set of four 8th notes began. Maddy left her lesson with the ability to unearth clues to enlighten perplexing rhythms and strategies to overcome them at home practice.
Someday soon, I won’t be there to help Maddy when she encounters tricky rhythms, but I know she will be equipped with the back-pocket tools to solve the problems herself.
Her detective skills will give her the courage to keep reading–and sight-reading–new music for a lifetime. 🕵🏻♀️
