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Hello everyone I just want to know if I am the only one with this problem. I have been taking piano lessons for almost 2 yrs I’am an adult beginner. My teacher tells me that I have a major rhythmic problem, so she has started me on Burgmuller easy And progressive Studies I play the pieces with the digital metronome althogu I understand the math part of counting notes,1 ,2 1/8 eight or 1/ 16 on the music sheet but when it comes to play the notes, according to my teacher I lose it and not with it going to fast she says as you want to get rid of it. Please advise if it’s possible to improve my rhythmic way of playing at my older age lol.

I solved my rhythm problems by clapping and couting aloud. It helps to know what in particular is bothering you. In my case it was syncopated notes and dotted eigth and quarter notes. I couldn't "feel" the beat intuitively and if I "just played" I almost always got it wrong. You need to "internalize" common musical rhythms. Start with some self diagnosis (what rhythms am I messing up and why?) and then concentrate on repetoire that offers help on your problem. You are not too old to learn. Finding your rhythm just takes more time for some. One thing I would suggest is not to "gloss over" rhythm problems in your pieces, in my opinion the rhythm is more important than the notes, most audiences will tolerate a missed note or two but will instantly recognize a mistake in your rhythm. Do a search for previous posts on this forum as well, i think this is a somewhat popular topic.


~pianocliff

PS: Another thing i do (which I learned from others on this forum btw) is to play your scales in various rhythms say quarter, straight eight, dotted eigth followed by sixteenth, triplet, etc. This will help to reinforce your understanding of these rhythms and help you in other ways as well.

I'm copying out of my Music Basics with Online Resources by Prof. Gretchen Peregrine:

View online presentation of Note Duration , Rest Duration , Dots and Ties at
web page .

For rhythmic practice drills go to Rhythm Gym at
web page

I agree with the previous advice: practice your rhythm by clapping and counting. Ask your teacher how to do it.

You can also get practice by listening to the radio and tapping along with the song. Start with songs... like pop music or something with an obvious beat.

First, just do the basic clap on the main beat. Think of this as clapping for a quarter note. Then try to clap twice as fast--that is, main beat clap - clap - main beat clap - clap. That's like eighth notes. Remember, you want to be clapping at an even rhythm.

Just keep going, thinking of different ways to vary the clapping. Consider NOT clapping for one of the beats, as if it were a rest.

Part of "getting" rhythms is just being able to switch from quarter note to eighth note to sixteenth note easily.

Another way to view it... used by a teacher of mine with her young kids, but I found it helpful.

Think of words that fit the note values, and say those in your head while you're clapping or playing notes, or while your metronome is clicking out an even rhythm, fairly slowly (say 72 or so). Each word gets one clap, and the claps must be even.

Her examples:

quarter note: chips
eighth note: salsa
sixteenth note: enchilada

I hope this makes sense.

Something that I think is helping me with my counting is Duets. My teacher gave me a book just before our summer break. I'll use the metronome for the Primo part, record it and then play along with myself! The pieces are pretty easy (almost sightreadable) but it's a lot of fun and harder than I thought. I recorded both parts together for one of them and although I'm sure my teacher will pick it apart when he hears it next week.....I really feel it helps with the counting....It's the last piece on my web page (It's not finished but I think I got all I want out of that piece and don't plan on rerecording.....)

Take some drumming lessons!

Beginning drumming has no requirement for dealing with pitch whic dramatically simplifies the process of learning rhythm. Once your brain gets associates the patterns on the music with the rhythmic sounds, you shouldn't have any more problems.

I played drums for many years before I moved over to guitar and keyboards and have never had a problem reading and playing the rhythms.

Rodney

GO online type DRUM MACHINE or RHYTHM MACHINE on the search. There are many different kinds so research what one will best fit your needs. A lot better find a use one at the local music store. Metronomes are so boring and the machines have all kinds of other things you'll use. Not to throw the thread off or to confuse you but in playing live there is the TIME signature of the piece 4/4 3/4 6/8 and so on and then there is the Tempo slow medium fast and last the Pulse in which the whole band and audience should feel together. dpvjazz

Thanks alot for all your wonderful suggestions...I am not innately cut out for this process. However, I will try to employ all your methods into solving this problem. Is this a popular problem among piano players or is this unique to me? Thanks again for all your help.

I think its a problem for all beginning musicians..

You've either got the rhythm or you ain't. If you ain't, you've got to work on gettin' it.

A lot of musicians struggle initially with rhythm but it is something that you absolutely have to have to play correctly. After solving some of my rhythm woes I found that I was able to enjoy playing much more than before. It is humbling as an adult (esp an ABer) to practice rhythms especially away from the keyboard because you often feel like conceptually the rhythm is straightforward or "easy" but when you sit down and try to do it things can fall apart. I encourage you not to get frustrated or impatient but rather to take your time and start "internalizing" these rhythms both in front of and away from the keyboard. Learn about all the different counting strategies (there are several) and find one that works for you. Ultimately to play well you just have to feel the rhythms internally, but initially when someone says this you might feel a bit initimidated like you aren't understanding something that is fairly simple. Trust me, I went through this process. Take your time, know that you will improve with practice and attention to rhythmic detail and your rhythm will improve in no time.


~pianocliff

Haizel...

We all suffer from it one time or another. It's part of the learning experience. Remember playing the piano is a lot more complicated than non-players think. We have to juggle with playing the notes correctly, the time accurately, the pedaling properly, all the while trying to play expressively. There's a lot more than just pressing the keys like any monkey can be trained to do.

Pianocliff is right. Try walking and tapping the rhythms. I use the feet as the metronome - the steady part, and the hands as the notes in between. While doing this, count out loud. (The rest of the family may want to lock you away in a looney bin so you might want to do this when they're not home...that's another story.)

Here are some other things may help too:

1) Subdivide the measures into smaller bits.

Make the eigth notes into quarters, 16ths into eighths, etc. Even now after 37 years of playing, I still do this. This is really helpful when playing something that is really slow.

2) Count out loud.

Say the beats to yourself as you play. This helps reinforce the note values into the brain a bit. Non-musicians might think your losing your mind, but do it anyway it helps.(see above)

3) Try this chromatic exercise. This helped me a lot. I had a teacher that gave me a ton of these exercises to do. Different patterns; some easy some not so easy.

Put the left thumb on Middle C; put the right thumb on E above Middle C. Use the following fingering.

RH - 1231313123131...
LH - 1231313123131...

Play quarter notes in the left hand, and eighths, or other meters against them in the right. Switch back and forth. The reason for playing like this with the contrasting motion is that they sound so distant from each other so you'll definitely hear the rhythmic differences. As always, use a metronome with this to keep things steady. Also start very slowly and count out loud as stated above.

With this chromatic scale-pattern, work up and down until both hands land one octave apart from where they started, and then go back home. If you got the time right, they'll land together back in the middle again.


Once you get the rhythmic things down, music will come together in a different way than can be described in writing. You'll also find that things are actually easier to play sometimes if the time is right.

John