Rhythm Practice
The purpose of these exercises is to develop a steady sense of tempo (beat/pulse) while performing rhythms accurately. A musician must be able to keep a steady beat before beginning these exercises, because performing a rhythm correctly is entirely dependent on first maintaining a steady beat. There are multiple ways to use these exercises:
- Tap hands or feet to one or both of the lines.
- Vocalize one of the lines.
- Vocalize one of the lines using a counting system (1 e & a 2 &… or tika-tika ti-ti ta… etc.)
- Tap one line while vocalizing the other.
- Count (using the voice) the beats or subdivisions of the beat while tapping one or both lines.
- Conduct the meter while tapping and/or vocalizing one or both lines.
- Do any of these with and without a metronome.
