I play piano for voice lessons, and one of the students I play for has an issue with always slowing down. When she uses a metronome, it feels to her like the tempo is speeding up as she goes along. Any suggestions for what to try or not try in order to instill a better sense of pulse?

My guess is she's probably taking too much time when she breathes. She gets further and further behind.

No, it's not the breathing that is the issue, because I allow time for that. It's even within the phrases, and when she taps on her own while singing, it also slows down.

How old is she?

Pulse has a steady beat
feel it moving in your feet
always steady, keep in time
tap your feet and say this rhyme
pulse has a steady beat...

Love it!

Good question - she's somewhere around 20.

Are her eyes moving ahead of her fingers, or does she fall behind and then feel rushed and panic and thus slows down?

i have my students memorize (or attempt to memorize) the melody of a piece.

and then play it in their head while they walk with the appropriate tempo playing in their feet. It is difficult for some students to acquire a rock steady tempo.

and of course, pay attention to note values.

I am not a teacher but I have been involved with making music my entire life (I am now retired). I have never found anyone who had difficulty with tempo .... getting better. They just disappeared from the scene.

I doubt if you are going to have much success with this. It is my opinion that people either feel "the beat" or they do not.

And as a famous sports figure once said ... "I may be wrong, but doubt it."

[quote=dmd]I am not a teacher but I have been involved with making music my entire life (I am now retired). I have never found anyone who had difficulty with tempo .... getting better. They just disappeared from the scene.

[/quote

I have seen an unsteady pulse get better over time, with the right stimulation and practice, many times. Sorry, but I think you are wrong!

I learned it from a student, and now use it with all my students. drip, drip, it works.

Just to clarify .... Have these instances of improvement involved people aged 20 or older ?

I can understand youngsters perhaps improving ... but Adults ?

I've certainly seen adults improving, but probably not with the same degree of turnaround as youngsters, I would admit. Doesn't mean than they can't or don't, just that I haven't seen it. I think there are very very few people who are genuinely arhythmic - but many who express rhythm inconsistently or inaccurately, until they nurture that particular skill. For some, it comes easy, of others, not so.

I've for sure seen adults improve rhythm in dancing. Some of them may never be graceful, some of them might, but they've certainly become more rhythmic.

I've seen speed-demon 17-yr-old fiddlers with no sense of pulse eventually learn to play danceable music with a good sense of pulse

Cathy

I'm not a teacher, but from my experiences as an adult flute student I would definitly say it's possible to improve rhythm skills. I used to take lessons at a music school (aimed at adults) with excellent teachers. In addition to private lessons they were offering different ensembles and other courses. One of the courses was run by the jazz-teachers and focused on rhythm and timing. It consisted of two-three hour long sessions (including cofee break) every other week during the semester. The very first activities was just meant to help the students to feel the pulse by walking and counting to four. Difficult enought for those who have problems with rhythm. Next, we continued with very easy clapping exercises while still continue walking in order to keep a steady pulse. For example clapping on every beat or clapping on the first beat.

As the lessons continued more and more difficult exercises were added, including syncopation, eith and sixteenth-notes, breaks, triols, and so on. Many exercises were without score, but many also including score to faciliate reading rhythms. The exercises were done without instruments, but later on they divided the lesson time into one more basic part and one more advanced part including various rhythm instruments.

I think this setup helped both those who didn't have any searious issues, and those who found it really difficult to keep a steady pulse. The reason it worked is according to me that the approach was unusually comprehensive. We really did start with ridicuosly easy exercises and slowly built up to more and more difficult things. Being in a group with ten other students was also helpful beacause if something was difficult you could see that it was not just you having troubles. Hearing, seeing, and feeling the others in the group also helps in obtaining a "steady pulse". The teachers were really good at helping everyone to improve, and I am impressed that they could make such a course to feel fun and interesting and not silly.

The problem is that in order to improve rhythm, or any any other skill, it really takes a lot of hard work. In regular lessons there is usually not at all enough time to really work on improving a sense of steady pulse.