Tempo, Pulse, Beat... whichever one you choose, this is a really important concept to a musician. In lessons this week we talked a lot about the importance of keeping conscious of it during our practice, rehearsals, and performances.
This is different from person to person, and often depends upon the complexity of the music, and the level of the player. One student in particular was having trouble mapping this process out this week, it brought to my attention how important this concept is.
I first asked the student what is going on in is mind and body as he attempted a short tune in terms of steady pulse. Not suprisingly, he didn't have a plan- so we created one. The first step is choosing a tempo, and it doesn't have to be fast- in fact, it shouldn't be. The most important thing is to decide upson a pulse- and commit to it.
1. I asked the student to tap the pulse he desired, I feel like this really helps with that whole idea of commitment to the beat
2. The next step is to sing, or number count through with a metronome going
3. If a student is OK with it, it can actually be helpful to have a physical tap on them while playing, such as on their shoulder
4. I am not at all against foot tapping, but the goal is to tame it down to "toe tapping" and finally just feeling the pulse internally- I think this is definitely a kinesthetic issue and it helps to feel the pulse in your body somehow
Another thing we tried was actually conducting a simple 4\4 beat pattern so that the student could thing about things from that point of view, sometimes even visualizing a conductor can help.
As with many issues that my oboe students encounter, however, it can easily enough be tackled with some serious practice time with a metronome :)
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