Last week we talked about the metronome actually being your friend.  In the excellent and lively discussion, the concept of innate rhythm arose – as in not having one!  As you might imagine, not having an innate sense of rhythm could hamper your ability to then use the metronome.

I’m not sure that it is possible to have absolutely no sense of rhythm.  After all, if that were the case, it would be difficult to live.  We all have a heartbeat.  That’s even called a sinus rhythm!  And it would be difficult to accomplish even simple tasks without some rhythm.  For instance – walking.  Walking has an embedded rhythm.  So does chewing.  And breathing.  Now, I’m not saying it’s impossible to have no rhythm.  But it kinda looks like it would be.

More likely, it is possible to have a very weak awareness of rhythm.  And possible to have a weak awareness of externally imposed rhythm.  (Think I’m making this up? Try to rapidly read through a strathspey with loads of flag/dots and dot/flags (not to mention the triplets!) – it’s really easy to build up a resistance to external rhythms when you’re internal ones go to war with them!).

I hope you’ve been as lucky as I have been coming up as a musician.  I have had amazing teachers!*  Some of the best stuff I ever learned was to work on rhythm away from the harp.  That could be by clapping or snapping my fingers.  It could be slapping left knee for the down beat and right for the up.  Or it could be walking around in a circle, keeping the beat with my feet while clapping the melody rhythm in my hands.  Or slapping Boom Sticks together. Or banging on wood blocks.  Or coffee cans.  Lately, I’m enamored with vocables for rhythm elements (while walking in circles).**

I love this systemic way of getting to the rhythm.  Because rhythm is organically simple while being conceptually complex.    Sometimes, it’s hard to keep all the thinking and doing going in order to get the tune to come out.  Breaking the rhythm out and working on it separately is helpful.  But really feeling it in your body (not just in your brain) is a valuable additional way to bring it together. 

Because, after all, you don’t just send your brain and your fingers to the harp!  You have to bring all of you.  So you might as well get all of you into the act.  You can make it small and timid (like I’ve described above) or you can make it big and bold like Eurhythmics.  But, like so many things, you have to make it what you need it to be.   You have to FEEL it!  And you must practice it!

So, the next time you take on a rhythm, try getting off your bench.  Get out of your head.  Move your arms and legs to the beat and to the rhythm.  Feel it – in your bones (and muscles!).  Be free and enjoy it.  And you may be surprised by how you can now appreciate (and render) the rhythm differently, easier, more freely.  I also like that when you move, you can also build a mental image of you moving – so if all else fails, you have yet another way to remember how it goes.

All that movement also helps heighten your awareness of the rhythm.  If you have a weak sense of rhythm, try making big swinging arm movements for the rhythm or big stomps for the beat.  Or both.   When you’ve got it (and are in fits of giggles), then sit back to the harp and start putting the pieces together (putting the notes into the rhythm).  And don’t be afraid to get up and do it again – when you’re first learning something, it can be fleeting, and you might have to repeat to get it back again. 

Have you tried moving around to get the rhythm?  If so, how’d it go?  If not, would you try it now?  And if you wouldn’t but are intrigued – I give lessons on being silly!***

*If you ever have a lesson with me and you think I am rolling my eyes while you struggle, I am not!  I’m thinking, vexed with myself that I’m not making something clear.  I’m furiously working through my list, wondering, “what would (Mrs. Edberg or Marianna or Sue or Kris or a number of other teachers who have been so patient with me) say or do at this point?  How can I get a different perspective and share that!”.  I’m not rolling my eyes, I’m seeking inspiration!!

**Now some of you are rolling your eyes because you’ve had to do this stuff with me – but it worked, didn’t it?!

***OK, that’s dangerously close to selling, which I try very hard to not do here.  But it is true and if you’d like a one-off lesson to explore this or a coaching session, just let me know!