Rhythm in music explained- How to get rhythm

why is it that some people just seem to be naturally brilliant at rhythm is rhythm natural or is rhythm something that we can learn in this video i'm going to explore the idea of rhythm and how we can develop our internal sense of rhythm and develop consistency control and in turn musicality through building a stronger sense of rhythm now my belief is that everyone has rhythm and that rhythm is like a muscle and it's a muscle that needs to be developed we learn and develop the rhythm muscle the same way that we learn and develop different languages we're working towards fluency with lots of different rhythms in this video i'm going to give you a handful of simple exercises to develop your internal sense of rhythm oh yeah i'm rory by the way i and i'm a percussionist and composer currently based in london originally from ireland and i have some music tutorials and documentaries over on my youtube channel if you'd like to check those out at some point though back to this video and let's start by exploring what rhythm actually is [Music] rhythm is a sound or event that repeats regularly over time and time is the important element in that definition because music exists in time unlike a book or a painting or sculpture which is timeless it just stands or sits there music exists in time there are so many words that we use interchangeably around rhythm which can sometimes make it a little bit confusing let's first look at beat at the heart of rhythm lies the beat and beat is the foundation on which the rhythm is played on a single beat that repeats at regular time intervals is called a pulse and you can see that represented in these sound waves of a clock ticking which repeats evenly over time often the pulse is the part of the music you instinctively tap your foot to and this is the crucial ingredient we need to develop our perception of in order to improve our sense of rhythm now there's an incredibly helpful tool that you can use to develop your sense of pulse called a metronome a metronome is a device that produces an audible click at regular time intervals which can be slowed down and sped up by you the person using it speed on the metronome is measured by the number of beats in a minute which we shorten to bpm a clock has 60 beats in a minute at one second intervals so we can set a metronome at one second intervals which would be 60 bpm if we have two equal beats per second that would be 120 bpm 120 beats in one minute two beats on each second and you can quickly move between different bpm using a metronome without doing lots of boring mathematics and i'm personally not very good at math so that is helpful for me nowadays metronomes are mostly digital and there are great apps for phones and devices to download and even metronomes you can access through the web browser you're watching this video on right now i've linked all of these below in the description box in the case you want to download those and whilst you're down there if you're enjoying this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my youtube channel metronome is the best way to identify a solid fixed pulse from which to practice with and to build rhythms on now as i said earlier in the video i like to think about rhythm like language and when we apply the principles of language to building rhythms we can develop a much deeper understanding of how different rhythms work and how rhythms are actually built of course language is the means through which we communicate using a voice using words those words can be broken down into syllables when we apply those syllables to a pulse a musical pulse on the metronome we create a rhythm let's start with words made up of two syllables like coffee london happy and so on they all have two beats so by linking the number of syllables to the number of beats we are tapping into a whole language of different rhythmic possibilities let's take the word coffee to start with not least because i like drinking coffee but with two hard syllables coffee we're going to apply coffee to a pulse which we're going to set up on the metronome and let's start with 70 bpm to start with that's our pulse we're saying the word coffee with this pulse this click on the metronome coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee so we've applied the word to the pulse first that's the first part of this exercise next we're going to clap the syllables of coffee with the pulse we're going to get that pulse going coffee coffee we're going to add clapping coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee so we're saying and playing the syllables and beats together at the same time next up we're gonna just play coffee we're gonna say it in our head so play don't say now when we are thinking the words and playing the beats this is where the magic happens this is the internal sense of rhythm that we want to tap into whilst we are practicing now of course you can take three syllable words galloping galloping galloping galloping four syllables piccadilly piccadilly piccadilly piccadilly five syllables hippopotamus hippopotamus slipper potting mississippi and so on of course you can make combinations different words the next stage once you've vocalized the rhythms practice playing them on your instrument so here's an exercise on your instrument pick a note or chord or just clap with me we're going to do this exercise together make sure to follow this order first just say the words with the click second say and play unless of course you're singing or you're playing a wind instrument uh skip straight to stage three which is play the rhythm don't say it they'll keep saying the words in your head okay so 70 bpm we'll say piccadilly four syllables yeah piccadilly piccadilly piccadilly piccadilly piccadilly pick it tilly pick it dilly so we're just saying it first that's the first stage second stage playing and saying second stage is playing and saying second stage moving on to the third which is just plank no sink now the idea of saying the words internally in your head is crucial this is where we start to develop our internal sense of rhythm this is what we want and this is what makes us in turn rhythmical or good at rhythm this is the internal clock that all great musicians carry around and use in their performances ask any musician about the importance of internal pulse and internalizing rhythm and see what they say to you now the scientific word for this action this thing of vocalizing the rhythms in our head is called audiation this is the musical equivalent of thinking in language for example like when we're having a conversation with someone we must retain the vocal sounds of that person long enough to recognize and give meaning to the words that they are saying now continuing with this idea of rhythm being like a language different accents within different languages have different cadence points and as you can imagine different languages have entirely different cadences as in different timing or flow it's actually pretty fascinating to see how this is reflected in different music from different places that kind of feels like an entirely different topic for another day though if you're interested in language and music i would encourage you to check out my documentary hidden drummers of india in part one i meet an incredible percussion guru called gatan gerita udupa who taught me about the carnatic music system where the language of conical is what's used to teach and to share and express rhythm now though going back to cadence and why that's important for rhythm what we're doing today which is working on our internal sense of rhythm there's one common cadence across all accents in all languages and that is the pattern with which we are taught to count numbers now you know how to count and you are fluent in your own language so by counting over the beats as you play out loud over time you will start to develop your own internal metronome or internal sense of pulse which we spoke about earlier now let's take a four beat rhythm tea coffee piccadilly tea tea we're going to play that rhythm we're going to get comfortable with it i encourage you to try this at home as well if you're struggling with that rhythm don't forget the three steps say it first tea coffee picky tilly tea then same play coffee pickle tea then just play of course thinking about those words thinking about those rhythms whilst you're doing it then we're going to apply this idea of counting out lead four beats of course you've got one two three four beats in this pattern i'm gonna play the pattern i'm gonna count out loud as i'm playing it one two three four counting out loud whilst i play it of course we can practice that with our metronome practicing with the pulse that was our rhythm we're gonna count out loud one two three four one two three four one two three four and so on now applying the principle of counting out loud is simple for simple rhythms though much more difficult for complex and complicated rhythm [Music] two patterns four one two three four one two three four one two three four when players and singers you're probably thinking what about me how do i do this this exercise is going to be a little more abstract for you though i think still worth working on and i recommend using a metronome app that comes with the option for a vocalized count i use metro timer for iphone which i find really helpful pop this through an amp or speaker and it's a really effective tool one two three four one two three four one two three four one two three four one two three four one two synchronized movement is another really important element in developing your internal sense of rhythm playing a musical instrument after all is just a series of controlled movements and actions this next exercise helps us to coordinate how we move and how we move rhythmically whilst the common cadence for language is counting numbers you could say the common cadence for movement would be walking it's probably why many people tap their foot while listening to music or playing music or indeed trying to find the pulse in a piece of music so i want you to try this exercise with me we're gonna take a four beat pattern that we're gonna mark out using our body using body percussion so the first beat we're gonna do stomp stomp second beat we're gonna do knee knee just gonna tap our knees third we're gonna tap our chest chest chest and then the fourth we're just going to do a clap so all together it goes stomp stomp knee knee chest chest drop now we're going to get going with pulse one two three four one two three four one we're gonna get that going with a pulse on a regular click we're gonna set the metronome to 70 bpm to start with nice and steady so goals stomp stomp knee knee chest chest clap stop stomp knee knee chest chest clap stomp stomp knee knee chest chest cap so get comfortable with that pattern first if you need to pause the video get that pattern really flowing get it really smooth we're gonna get things going a little bit more tricky now okay so stomp stomp knee knee chest chest clap stomp stomp knee knee chest chest crap next time no clap no clap there imagine it you can say clap in your head next time no chest stomp stomp knee knee stomp stompy next time no knee stomp stump next time no stomp clap we're sitting in our head visualizing it so you can come back in with the clack clap even some chest chest chest chest clap next time stomp stomp stomp stomp that was a pretty simple example but you can try different combinations of actions like maybe click clap knee knee stomp stomp click clap knee stomp stomp adding and subtracting the different actions to the click start slow and build up speed and remember you're building that audition where you're visualizing saying patterns in your head this is where we really start to tap into our internal sense of rhythm by practicing these exercises you are developing your coordination and control which are both crucial for playing rhythmically and in time now identifying the pulse vocalizing rhythms counting out loud as you practice and synchronizing cognitive movement they're all very well though rhythm will only come with practice regular and consistent practice think of it like brain training it takes time to ingrain different rhythms i hope that this video has been interesting or maybe even helpful and don't hesitate to ask me any questions or share your thoughts in the comments section below and if you like this video you can hit the like button and make sure to subscribe to my channel for more music related content in the future and until then everybody take care and i shall see you in the next video bye

Channel: Ruairi Glasheen

Views: 84,618

Keywords: rhythm lesson, rhythm patterns, how to get rhythm, how rhythm works, what is rhythm, what is beat, music rhythm and beats, rhythm lessons for elementary, rhythm lessons for beginners, rhythm lesson 1, how to learn music theory, metronome practice, how to improve timing, rhythm practice, rhythm, beat, what-is-rhythm, music-education, rhythm for beginners, beat and rhythm, music theory, rhythm for music, rhythm for dance, metronome exercise, pulse in music, get better rhythm, bpm

Id: JISh_c8oUsw

Length: 16min 6sec (966 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 26 2020