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Hello,

Just a month with a piano teacher and we are doing solfege music reading + hand clapping in rythm for 4 weeks. I find it hard to keep the beat without metronome. My teacher says a should pratice music reading without metronome, learning to feel a psysical beat in my body to keep in rithm.

Now i've tried to tap with my feet, but what's the correct way for doing it. example 2/4, should i tap twice, and 3/4 should i tap 3 times, or should a tap once per beat, or just what i find the easiest way? Are there any other good methods for learning this, or does it come al of the sudden while pratcising?

thx, Johan

You are saying the same thing above here. in 2/4 the top number means how many beats per measure, the bottom number tells you what kind of note gets one beat (in this case 4=quarter note). So to tap the beats in 2/4 you would tap two times per measure, or in 3/4 you'd tap 3 times per measure. Just keep in mind that it should be like the ticking of a clock or like the sound of a metronome. You don't really hear measures at first when learning to sightread rhythms. You will eventually hear how beat one in a measure gets a little more stress either melodically or with a slight stress or accent on that beat. But that will come with time. At first, the beat keeps on going, so you tap and just match your notes or clapping with that beat.

Do you count the beats out loud? This is crucial even if your counting at first has some stops and starts.

Also, be very careful you are picking rhythms that are not too advanced for you. Start with easy and work your way up. Also, don't start with a fast beat, but pick a beat that is very, very slow, something that you are confident you can do the passage well.

Thx for the reply
My mistake, i meant per measure, not per beat. But I understood I should tap 2 times per measure when 2/4 and 3 times per measure when 3/4

Reassuring

No, I sing the notes out loud (do, re, mi,...). or don't i understand your point?


Only working with 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 at the moment @75bpm maximum.

I still remember from when I was a kid in band. We always tapped our heels. Counted in our minds at the same time.
That crept into my body. It's easy and natural to me to keep count now.

Depending on the complexity of the rhythm and subdivisions of the beat (8th notes, 16th notes, etc.) this speed may be too fast.

As for counting out loud, this is what you would do while playing piano or while clapping a rhythm. If you are doing solfeggio, I recommend first clapping and counting the rhythm before trying to then read the solfeg. When we sight read we are deciphering rhythm and pitch, so it's necessary sometimes to break these out into two separate activities: do rhythm-only exercises and pitch-only exercises (a melody all in quarter notes for example).

To count out loud while clapping, you first need to look at your time signature and your smallest note value in the example. Let's say you are in 4/4 time and your smallest note value is a quarter note. Your counting would be, "1-2-3-4". If you are in 4/4 time and your smallest note value is an 8th note, your counting would be, "1&2&3&4&" even if you don't have 8th notes on that particular beat.

This is something your teacher should try to explain to you, however, as it's much easier to do in person than on a forum.

I count in my head, as I find any superfluous physical movement distracting. And counting definitely helps your rhythm become second nature after a while. Don't give up; a month is not a long time!

Counting out loud or with a physical action such as tensing a muscle or tapping a foot is less likely to be subjected to mental time stretching.

Time is the most important attribute of music so it may be better to learn to play while counting rather than learning to count while playing.

Basic Timing for the Pianist is a nice little book/ebook with 105 rhythmic exercises that one can clap or play on the piano (very easy 5-finger positions). I did a page a day over a couple of months and found it beneficial. Especially while sight-reading, it is very useful to be able to recognize rhythmic patterns at first sight and "hear" them in your head instead of having to count everything.

Try going out for a walk. Just feel your steps. You don't need to count.

Sometimes I find myself trying to follow a beat rather than 'creating' the beat. The piano can create an amazing array of rhythms. Have fun.

Thanks for all tips&tricks. I do recognize a lot of them, but actually creating a beat yourself and stick to it while reading, is still hard for me. We'll see in a couple of month if it gets any better (becomes a 2nd nature)

Yep an old boot camp trick ... the army threw in rhythm and voice lessons along with the extreme haircut. 4/4 only tho ... no waltzing allowed.