tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7181744309080861233.post2913911055309228281..comments2024-01-12T00:48:55.192-08:00Comments on Music and Brain Blog at University of Toronto: Rhythm: The Essence of MusicLee Bartelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06727468225852676801noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7181744309080861233.post-56411903840666454302009-12-07T18:19:42.780-08:002009-12-07T18:19:42.780-08:00Keeping a steady beat is also the object of many p...Keeping a steady beat is also the object of many practice sessions for me. Keeping tricky rhythmic patterns within the framework of a steady beat/pulse gets even more challenging. Though it may simply be caused by adrenaline, I also tend to speed up as I continue to play, particularly when the piece is already marked at a fast tempo.<br /><br />I suppose that if speaking is comparable to playing music, it makes sense that as a passage excites us, the tempo increases, just as speech tends to get faster with excitement. Perhaps it is the contradiction between our feeling for the piece and the way it is restricted by prescriptions of tempo that creates tension in a piece.<br /><br />I'm currently taking piano pedagogy courses in which we encourage children to move to a steady pulse as they sing the tunes they will learn on the piano. After an exercise like this, students do seem to be able to play at a steady speed. I wonder if part of the reason classical musicians might find it hard to keep the same speed throughout a piece is because of a lack of full-body engagement in the rhythm and pulse. In particular, the spaces between the beats can seem like an eternity, but filling out this space with an arm movement, for example, might help us maintain the right rhythm and keep a steady tempo.Myrtle D. Millareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15607189603566020496noreply@blogger.com