Las leyes de la Democracia

Rhythm is the (repetitive) timing framework of music. When you read about rhythm (see Whiteside), it often seems like a mysterious aspect of music that only “inborn talent” can express. Or perhaps you need to practice it all your life, like drummers. Most frequently, however, correct rhythm is simply a matter of accurate count-ing, of correctly reading the music, especially the time signatures. This is not as easy as it sounds; difficulties often arise because most indications for rhythm are not explicitly spelled out everywhere on the music score since it is part of things like the time signature that appears only once at the beginning (there are too many such “things” to be listed here, such as the difference between a waltz and a mazurka). In many instances, the music is created mainly by manipulating these rhythmic variations so that rhythm is one of the most important elements of music. In short, most rhythmic difficulties arise from not reading the music correctly. This often happens when you try to read the music HT; there is just too much information for the brain to process and it can’t be bothered with rhythm, especially if the music involves new technical skills. That initial reading mistake then becomes incorporated into the final music that you practice.

Definition of Rhythm: Rhythm consists of 2 parts: timing and accents, and they come in 2 forms, formal and logical. The mysteries surrounding rhythm and the difficulties encountered in defining rhythm arise mainly from the “logical” part, which is at once the key element and the most elusive. So let’s tackle the simpler formal rhythms first. Just because they are simpler does not mean that they aren’t important; too many students make mistakes with these elements which generally renders the music unrecognizable in terms of what it should sound like.

Formal Timing: The formal timing rhythm has a name, “Time Signature”, and is indicated at the very begin-ning of any music score. The major time signatures are waltz (3/4), common time (4/4), “cut time” (2/2), and 2/4. The waltz has 3 beats per bar (measure), etc.; the number of beats per bar is indicated by the numerator.

4/4 is the most common and is often not even indicated, although it should be indicated by a “C” at the begin-ning (you can remember it as “C stands for common”). Cut time is indicated by the same “C”, but with a vertical line down the center (cuts the “C” in half ). The reference note is indicated by the denominator, so that the 3/4 waltz has 3 quarter-notes per bar, and 2/4 is, in principle, twice as fast as 2/2 cut time.

Formal Accents: Each time signature has its own formal accent (louder or softer beats). If we use the conven-tion that 1 is the loudest, 2 is softer, etc., then the waltz has the formal accent 133 (the famous oom-pha-pha);

the first beat gets the accent. Common time has the formal accent 1323, and cut time and 2/4 have the accent 12. The Mazurka has the accent 331, and a syncopation is a rhythm in which the accent is placed at an arbi-trary (but fixed) location within a bar; for example a syncopated 4/4 might be 2313 or 2331. Note that the 2331 rhythm is fixed throughout the composition, but the 1 is at a non-conventional location.

Logical Timing and Accents: This is where the composer injects his music. It is a change in timing and loud-ness from the formal rhythm. Although rhythmic logic is not necessary, it is almost always there. Well known components of timing rhythmic logic are accel. (to make things more exciting), decel. (perhaps to indicate an ending) or rubato. Examples of dynamic rhythmic logic are increasing or decreasing loudness, forte, PP, etc.

An interesting composition in which the formal and logical rhythms can be discerned fairly easily is Beethoven’s Tempest Sonata (Op. 31, #2), especially in the 3rd movement. For example, in the 3rd movement, the first 3 bars are 3 repetitions of the same structure, and they simply follow the formal rhythm. However, in bars 43–46, there are 6 repetitions of the same structure in the RH, but they must be squeezed into 4 formal rhythmic bars! If you make 6 identical repetitions in the RH, you are wrong! In addition, in bar 47, there is an unexpected “sf ” that has nothing to do with the formal rhythm, but is an absolutely essential logical rhythm.

If rhythm is so important, what guidance can one use, in order to cultivate it? Obviously, you must treat rhythm as a separate subject of practice for which you need a specific program of attack. Therefore, during the initial learning of a new piece, set aside some time for working on the rhythm. A metronome, especially one with advanced features, can be helpful here. First, you must double check that your rhythm is consistent with the time signature. This can’t be done in your mind even after you can play the piece — you must revisit the sheet music and check every note. Too many students just play a piece a certain way “because it sounds right”; you can’t do that. You must check with the score to see if the correct notes carry the correct accent strictly according to the time signature. Only then, can you decide which rhythmic interpretation is the best way to play and where the composer has inserted violations of the basic rules (very rare); more often the rhythm indicated by the time signature is strictly correct but sounds counter-intuitive. An example of this is the mysterious

“arpeggio” at the beginning of Beethoven’s Appassionata (op. 57). A normal arpeggio (such as CEG) would start with the first note (C), which should carry the accent (downbeat). However, Beethoven starts each bar at the third note of the arpeggio (the first bar is incomplete and carries the first two notes of the “arpeggio”); this forces you to accent the third note, not the first note, if you follow the time signature correctly. We find out the reason for this odd “arpeggio” when the main theme is introduced in bar 35. Note that this “arpeggio” is just an inverted, schematized (simplified) form of this theme. Beethoven had psychologically prepared us for the main theme by giving us only the rhythm! This is why he repeats it, after raising it by a curious interval — he just wanted to make sure that we recognized the unusual rhythm (he used the same device at the beginning of his 5th symphony, where he repeated the 4-note motif at a lower pitch). Another example is Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu. The first note of the RH (bar 5) must be softer than the second. Can you find at least one reason

why? Although this piece is in double time, it may be instructive to practice the RH as 4/4 to make sure that the wrong notes are not emphasized.

Check the rhythm carefully when you start HS. Then check again when you start HT. When the rhythm is wrong, the music usually becomes impossible to play at speed. Thus, if you have unusual difficulty in getting up to speed, it is a good idea to check the rhythm. In fact, incorrect rhythmic interpretation is one of the most common causes of speed walls and why you have trouble HT. When you make an rhythmic error, no amount of practice will enable you to get up to speed! This is one of the reasons why outlining works: it simplifies the job of correctly reading the rhythm. Conversely, when outlining, concentrate on rhythm. Also, when you first start HT, you may have more success by exaggerating the rhythm. Rhythm is another reason why you should not attempt pieces that are too difficult for you. If you don’t have sufficient technique, you will not be able to control the rhythm. What can happen is that the lack of technique will impose an incorrect rhythm into your playing, thus creating a speed wall.

Next, look for the special rhythmic markings, such as “sf ” or accent marks. Finally, there are situations in which there are no indications on the music and you simply have to know what to do, or listen to a recording in order to pick up special rhythmic variations. Therefore, as part of your practice routine, you should experiment with rhythm, accenting unexpected notes, etc., so see what might happen.

Rhythm is also intimately associated with speed. This is why you need to play most Beethoven composi-tions above certain speeds; otherwise, the emocomposi-tions associated with the rhythm and even the melodic lines can be lost. Beethoven was a master of rhythm; thus you cannot play Beethoven successfully without paying special attention to rhythm. He usually gives you at least two things simultaneously: (i) an easy-to-follow melody that the audience hears, and (ii) a rhythmic device that controls what the audience feels. Thus in the first movement of his “Pathétique” (op. 13), the agitated LH tremolo controls the emotions while the audience is preoccupied with listening to the curious RH. Therefore a mere technical ability to handle the fast LH tremolo is insufficient

— you must be able to control the emotional content with this tremolo. Once you understand and can execute the rhythmic concept, it becomes much easier to bring out the musical content of the entire movement, and the stark contrast with the Grave section becomes obvious.

There is one class of rhythmic difficulties that can be solved using a simple trick. This is the class of complex rhythms with missing notes. A good example of this can be found in the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s “Pathé-tique”. The 2/4 time signature is easy to play in bars 17 to 21 because of the repeated chords of the LH that maintain the rhythm. However, in bar 22, the most important accented notes of the LH are missing, making it difficult to pick up the somewhat complex play in the RH. The solution to this problem is to simply fill in the missing notes of the LH! In this way, you can easily practice the correct rhythm in the RH.

In summary, the “secret” of great rhythm is no secret — it must start with correct counting (which, I must re-emphasize, is not easy). For advanced pianists, it is of course much more; it is magic. It is what distinguishes the great from the ordinary. It is not just counting the accents in each bar but how the bars connect to create the developing musical idea. For example, in Beethoven’s Moonlight (op. 27), the beginning of the 3rd movement is basically the 1st movement played at a crazy speed. This knowledge tells us how to play the 1st movement, because it means that the series of triplets in the 1st movement must be connected in such a way that they lead to the culmination with the three repeated notes. If you simply played the repeated notes independently of the preceding triplets, they will lose their real impact. Rhythm is also that odd or unexpected accent that our brains somehow recognize as special. Clearly, rhythm is a critical element of music to which we must pay special attention.

1.3.1.3 Staccato

Staccato is defined as the mode of play in which the finger is quickly bounced off the key so as to produce a brief sound with no sustain. It is somewhat astonishing that most books on learning piano discuss staccato, but never define what it is! This paragraph gives a fairly complete definition. In staccato play, the backcheck is not engaged and the damper cuts off the sound immediately after the note is played. There are two notations for staccato, the normal (dot) and hard (triangle). In normal staccato, the jack is generally released; in hard staccato, the finger moves down and up more rapidly and generally leaves the key before the jack is released.

Thus in normal staccato, the key drop may be about half way down, but in hard staccato, it is generally less than half way. In this way, the damper is returned to the strings faster, resulting in a shorter note duration. Because the backcheck is not engaged, the hammer can “bounce around”, making repetitions tricky at certain speeds.

Thus if you have trouble with rapidly repeated staccatos, don’t immediately blame yourself — it may be the wrong frequency at which the hammer bounces the wrong way. By changing the speed, amount of key drop, etc., you may be able to eliminate the problem. Clearly, in order to play staccato well, it helps to understand how the piano works.

Staccato is generally divided into three types depending on how it is played: (1) finger staccato, (1) wrist staccato, and (3) arm staccato. (1) is played mostly with the finger in a pull motion, holding the hand and arm still, (2) is neutral (neither pull nor thrust), played mostly with wrist action, and (3) is usually best played as a thrust, with the playing action originating at the upper arm. As you progress from (1) to (3) you add more mass behind the fingers; therefore, (1) gives the lightest staccato and is useful for single, soft notes, and (3) gives the heaviest feeling and is useful for loud passages and chords with many notes. (2) is in between. In practice, most of us probably combine all three. Some teachers frown on the use of wrist staccato, preferring mostly arm staccato; however, it is probably better to have a choice of all three. For example, you might be able to reduce fatigue by changing from one to the other.

Because you cannot use the arm weight for staccato, the best reference is your steady body. Thus the body plays a major role in staccato play. Speed of staccato repetition is controlled by the amount of up-down motion:

the smaller the motion, the faster the repetition rate.

1.3.2 Cycling (Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu)

Cycling is the best technique-building procedure for things like new or fast passages you cannot handle.

Cycling (also called “looping”) is taking a segment and playing it repeatedly; usually continually, without breaks. If the conjunction needed for cycling continually is the same as the first note of the segment, this seg-ment cycles naturally; it is called a self-cycling segseg-ment. An example is the CGEG quadruplet. If the conjunction is different, you need to invent one that leads to the first note so you can cycle without breaks.

Cycling is basically pure repetition, but it is important to use it almost as an anti-repetition procedure, a way to avoid mindless repetition. The idea behind cycling is that you acquire technique so rapidly that it eliminates unnecessary, mindless repetition. In order to avoid picking up bad habits, change the speed and experiment with different hand/arm/finger positions for optimum play and always work for relaxation; try not to cycle the exact same thing too many times. Play softly (even loud sections) until you attain the technique, get up to speeds at least 20% above final speed and, if possible, up to 2 times final speed. Over 90% of your cycling time should be at speeds that you can handle comfortably and accurately. Then cycle down gradually to very slow speeds. You are done when you can play at any speed for any length of time, without looking at the hand, completely relaxed, and with full control. You might find that certain intermediate speeds give trouble. Practice these speeds because they may be needed when you start HT. For segments with chords or jumps, make sure that you can cycle without looking at the hand. Practice without the pedal (partly to avoid the bad habit of not pressing down completely through the key drop) until the technique is attained. Change hands frequently to avoid injury.

If a technique requires 10,000 repetitions (a typical requirement for really difficult material), cycling allows you to get them done in the shortest possible time. Representative cycle times are about 1 sec, so 10,000 cycles is less than 4 hours. If you cycle this segment for 10 min. per day, 5 days a week, 10,000 cycles will take almost a month. Clearly, very difficult material will take months to learn using the best methods, and much longer if you use less efficient methods.

Cycling is potentially the most injurious of any piano practice procedure, so please be careful. Don’t over-do it the first day, and see what happens the next day. If nothing is sore the next day, you can continue or increase the cycling workout. Above all, whenever you cycle, always work on two at a time, one for the RH and another for the LH so that you can switch hands frequently. For young people, over cycling can result in pain;

in that case, just stop cycling and the hand should recover in a few days. In older people, over cycling can cause osteo-arthritic flare-ups that can take months to subside.

Let’s apply cycling to Chopin’s FI: the left hand arpeggio, bar 5. The first six notes cycle by themselves, so you might try that. When I first tried it, the stretch was too much for my small hands, so I got tired too quickly.

What I did was to cycle the first 12 notes. The second, easier six notes allowed my hands to rest a little and therefore enabled me to cycle the 12 note segment longer and at higher speed. Of course, if you really want to increase speed (not necessary for the LH but might be useful for the RH in this piece) cycle only the first parallel set (the first three or four notes for the LH).

Just because you can play the first segment does not mean that you can now play all the other arpeggios.

You will need to start practically from scratch even for the same notes one octave down. Of course, the second arpeggio will be easier after mastering the first one, but you may be surprised at how much work you need to repeat when a very small change is made in the segment. This happens because there are so many muscles in your body that your brain can choose a different set of muscles to produce motions that are only slightly different (and it usually does). Unlike a robot, you have little choice about which muscles your brain is going to pick. Only when you have done a very large number of such arpeggios does the next one come easily. Therefore, you should expect to have to cycle quite few arpeggios.

In order to understand how to play this Chopin piece, it is helpful to analyze the mathematical basis of the 3 versus 4 timing part of this composition. The RH plays very fast, say 4 notes per half second (approximately).

At the same time, the LH is playing at a slower rate, 3 notes per half second. If all the notes are played very accurately, the audience hears a note frequency equivalent to 12 notes per half second, because this frequency corresponds to the smallest time interval between notes. That is, if your RH is playing as fast as it can, then by adding a SLOWER play with the LH, Chopin succeeded in accelerating this piece to 3 times your maximum speed!

But wait, not all of the 12 notes are present; there are actually only 7, so 5 notes are missing. These missing notes create what is called a Moiré pattern, which is a third pattern that emerges when two incommensurate patterns are superposed. This pattern creates a wavelike effect within each measure and Chopin reinforced this effect by using a LH arpeggio that rises and falls like a wave in synchrony with the Moiré pattern. The

But wait, not all of the 12 notes are present; there are actually only 7, so 5 notes are missing. These missing notes create what is called a Moiré pattern, which is a third pattern that emerges when two incommensurate patterns are superposed. This pattern creates a wavelike effect within each measure and Chopin reinforced this effect by using a LH arpeggio that rises and falls like a wave in synchrony with the Moiré pattern. The