Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Question on natural accents ?

Hello there!, such a long time witouth posting! Ive started takin lessons about two weeks a go and so far my teacher says im at a decent level of technique but my sight reading and theory level kind of suck as i literally never read any sheet music.

Anyways, the other day he was talking about the time signature and accents in music, he said that on 4/4 i must accent the first and third beat but im having a hard time doing that. I can read some of the begginer sheets but i cant accentuate consciously the first and third regullary, is there some kind of drills to do this ?ive noticed changes on previous pieces ive learned trying to apply the accent advice, is it really really important? or should i not be that worried? thank you guys!

Welcome to the forum, seins345. You might try listening to recordings and clapping out the rhythm, emphasizing the first beat, and emphasizing the 3rd beat a little bit less. Marches by John Phillip Sousa are excellent for rhythm. Once you get the idea into your ear, it shouldn't be too hard. You might also try doing the same thing by humming your current music and clapping out the rhythms. Also, a digital metronome can be set to emphasize the beat you want. Hope that helps.

Also: I wonder if maybe what you're playing right now doesn't follow that thing about accents on the 1st and 3rd beats. It's sort of a usual 'rule,' but not always. Not all 4/4 music follows it -- and if a given piece doesn't, then our instincts will rightly keep us from doing it.

It would be quite rare if a piece didn't follow it (and if so would be notated accordingly) as it's one of the keys to how music works. Think Billy Jean (and every other piece of pop music) - Bass Snare Bass Snare. Daniel Gottlob Türk was the first to expound on the subject as far as I'm aware.

Thank you for your responses guys!, i was already doing the clapping thing as it was suggested on the book my teacher gave me, and i do it just fine alone, the trouble comes when playing as my head just does one thing or another, i play or i count the time im in, its pretty frustrating :P