September Blog

Rhythm and tempo One of the most influential elements of music that affects interpretation is the treatment of rhythm and tempo. The slightest and subtlest changes of tempo can create an incredible change of the character of a piece. Rhythm can also be a difficult phenomenon to comprehend, as what we see on the page does not literally translate into sound. Guitarists, including myself, can tend to somewhat lack understanding in this area, as we often play so much solo repertoire. When one listens to an accomplished guitarist (say Julian Bream), there is always a sense of understanding regarding rhythm and tempo. This understanding plays a large role in the level of conviction of an interpretation. Here are some useful tips Ive picked up along the way of studying and hopefully some of them can be of some use to you!

Rubato Rubato is one of the easiest expressive rhythmic devices to become habitual. When we first learn a piece, particularly one were not familiar with, it may be very tempting to try and be expressive and tamper with the rhythmic structure of the piece in the process. So here are some strategies that Ive found helpful for avoid this kind of rubato. Playing with other musicians This is important, not just for developing a good sense of rhythm and tempo, but also for many other musical reasons. Try and play with other musicians as often as possible, even if its just a bit of fun sight-reading can be a great test of your rhythmic abilities! Contacting your local guitar society can be a good way of finding some peers to play with. (The Classical Guitar Society of Victoria is a good place to start if you live in Victoria) Practicing with a metronome This is something that can often be misunderstood. The metronome is often used for building up tempo, but that is definitely not the only thing they can be useful for. These days, with the development of electronic metronomes, you can apply many different settings that are easy to program into the metronome.

Light only Most electronic metronomes have the function of beating time with just a flashing light. If it doesnt then theres probably a way of turning down the volume while keeping the light on. Using the metronome in this way means that you dont rely on the beat being beaten aurally. You instead rely more on your visual sense, meaning that your bodily rhythmic awareness is being expanded to another sense. Its something more similar to following a conductor in a sense (a rather emotionless one!). There is something valuable in trying to land your beat with a visual cue rather than an aural one. At the very least it will provide a difference of approach that will be a good test of your rhythmic control.

Off beat Metronomes usually have a different type of click for the downbeat and offbeat and you can use this to your advantage. It can be useful to practice on the offbeat as we so often feel the downbeat as our principle pulse. The offbeat is also a feature in a lot of works composed for the guitar, particularly ones influenced by folk elements. There are often rests or no re-articulations on the offbeats, which can make it tempting to rush or lose sense of the pulse. Pulse is created by a sense of strong and weak beats and the offbeats can be thought of as weak beats. This doesnt mean that the weak beats are less important than the strong in fact they deserve equal attention, and a performers understanding of this can help establish a deeper level of rhythmic interpretation. Practicing in a way that emphasises the offbeats can help enhance this sense of rhythm. Here is one example where this can apply from the final section of a piece Ive been playing for a while, the Hungarian Fantasy by J.K. Mertz

Subdivisions Metronomes usually have a function to change the subdivision of the beat from crochet to semiquaver. My metronome (a Dr. Beat) has these subdivions and it can be useful to apply some different ones as they can give a certain rhythmic feel to what youre playing

On/off Ive mentioned this idea briefly before in other blogs and Ive found it to be a very good way of using the metronome. Play with the metronome once then play again without. Do this a few times to really make sure your rhythm doesnt fluctuate in ways you dont want it to. Mark in your score where you want to use rubato or broaden or ritardando etc.

Polyrhythms This can be very useful for practicing changes of subdivision, such as from semiquavers to quaver triplets. Put the metronome on semiquaver and play triplets and vice versa. This can be a great rhythmic study and I find it can get quite grooooovy after a while. Time words Metronomes often have time words (such as adagio, andante, allegro, etc.) attached to the numbers, so its worth putting some thought into this aspect. Sometimes it can be effective to practice a piece or passage at a different time word than what is marked in the score. Often it is the editor that has indicated the time word, so its not always the definitive option. Choose a tempo that suits your taste and needs and that you feel suits the character that you are trying to convey. This may change from time to time, but its always worth consciously experimenting with tempo. Sometimes it can be hard to put a number to a specific time word an adagio in one piece may be quite a lot faster or slower than an adagio in another! If there is no time word marked, then youll probably have to briefly analyse certain elements such as phrasing, harmonic rhythm and rhythmic subdivisions (i.e. if there are demisemiquavers then that will probably affect your tempo decision). Its also worth investigating what the different time words mean. For example, allegro doesnt just necessarily mean fast it also usually implies sprightliness or cheerfulness.

Slow/fast This is related to the on/off approach mentioned earlier. This one speaks for itself play a passage slow (maybe half tempo), and then play it at tempo immediately after. I find its good to do it slow again immediately after, so I finish with good habits - so thats, slow/fast/slow (fast meaning at tempo or close to). You can also do the reverse fast/slow and/or fast/slow/fast.

Rhythmic phrasing Rhythmic phrasing can be though of in similar terms to melodic phrasing. I like to think of phrasing as being the lingual equivalent of grouping letters into words, sentences and paragraphs. Once phrasing has been interpreted, then the individual pitches and rhythms should make sense and unite to create musical coherence - or in lingual equivalence, will form a kind of narrative or story. Another important aspect of phrasing for me is the idea of inflection. This also

ties in closely to language and narrative, particularly speech. Once a phrase has been defined, you can try playing it with different inflections. Sometimes adding words or lyrics to a phrase can help further define the kind of inflection you think best suits the character of the phrase or piece. The lyrics you choose can also help add to the character of the piece, for example a piece that could be interpreted to have a cheerful character (1st mvt. of Sonatina in A by Torroba could be an example) could have lyrics that could also portray a cheerful character. Lets take a further look at the rhythmic phrasing of the beginning of the 1st movement of Sonatina in A by Torroba.

Firstly I think its important to identify any recurring rhythmic patterns and the next example makes this a bit clearer -

In the example above Ive reduced the rhythm to one pitch (you can actually practice it like this too!). The different octaves represent the different rhythmic elements or voices of the example. Observe the different stemmings of the different voices in the original example. This is not just an important factor melodically, but rhythmically as well.

A fairly large proportion of the movement uses this opening rhythmic phrase, or variations of the different elements at least. Again, identifying these types of repeated patterns is very useful for interpreting the rhythmic elements of the structure it also makes learning the piece much faster too! In order to create rhythmic phrasing, I use some of the devices mentioned before. The first thing that I will usually consider is the indicated time word Allegretto. This word derives from Allegro, which can be literally translated to cheerful, merry and/or jolly. In terms of tempo allegretto is somewhere in-between allegro and andante (I think andante derives from the word andare, which can translate to something like to walk, or in terms of tempo, at a walking pace). So how does the allegretto get conveyed through rhythm? This passage is beautifully devised to convey the sense of allegretto and Ill show a clearer diagram to demonstrate the rhythmic elements of this

From the very beginning, Torroba establishes a sense of rhythmic vitality by placing a strong chord on the first beat. Many pieces often start with some kind of upbeat, which creates a sense of weak to strong. Here, Torroba does the reverse and starts with a strong pulse. Straight after this the main rhythmic subject is introduced. We can break this down even further

Notice that in the third group this grouping across the bar line is supported by the bass another rhythmic layer. This gives the rhythmic phrase a kind of comma, a signal of finishing that group. Following this is a kind of response that uses very similar kinds of groups in fact it is virtually an exact repetition rhythmically. To me, the rhythmic vitality is created by these repeating groups and is supported by melodic sequences and repetitions. By observing these patterns, a different kind of understanding of the musics structure and character will be found and this will often result in learning pieces much faster.

Solving rhythmic complexities Sometimes rhythms can be found that are just plain difficult to execute accurately and with control. As a result they can come across in an undesired way. Here is one that is not too complex, but caught me off guard when learning the piece. From the Homage pour le Tombeau Debussy by Manuel de Falla

For me there are several rhythmic challenges about these three bars. The first bar alone presents itself with two different challenges going from demisemiquavers to sextuplets and from septuplets to semiquavers. There are a few procedures I use to help keep my sense of tempo and rhythm clear. Most of these tactics involve simplifying the rhythm in some way. The first thing Id probably do is practice something like this

As you can see, all Ive done is left out the sextuplet figure, taking out the most complex element. Other similar procedures are things like outlining, whereby you just play the first beats of each complex group

While doing work like this, it is good to also visualize and/or hear whatever is left out. The transition from quavers to sextuplets (bars 2 3 of the example) can also be practiced in similar ways. This kind of work is also great for memorization - the topic of next months blog.

For further reading/study I recommend Ear Training by Jorgen Jersild Solfeggi parlati e cantati (spoken and singing solfege) by Pozzoli (any solfege book will probably do)