9 Ways To Have Better Rhythm As A Pianist
1. Internalize the pulse of the music
This is the very most important thing that you can do to improve your rhythm. If you can feel the pulse of the music within your body, you will be able to get the rhythm to come out correctly in your music. However, if you mainly think about the rhythm but only experience it in your mind, it will be very difficult to play music with a good, consistent rhythm.
Understanding the rhythm and feeling the beat are two very different things and you have to master both of these skills in order to play with correct rhythm.
In order to internalize the beat of the music, you have to feel it in your body and move some part of your body to the music. You could sway, tap your foot, clap your hands, nod your head, or find any other movement you’re comfortable with.
It would be helpful to practice doing this outside of the music you are working on. When you listen to music in your car or around your house. Practice finding and moving to the beat. Tap your steering wheel as you drive or tap your foot as you casually listen to music.
As you listen and move, see if you can pay attention to how the rhythm of the music falls between the beats you are feeling. Don’t stress out about understanding what you are hearing, but just see if you can make some observations.
When you practice this skill in the context of the music you are practicing, take the time to feel the pulse of the music in your body before you begin playing. This will help you to start and maintain a consistent tempo as you play.
If you’re worried about how to develop your rhythm, here’s a great exercise to get you started. Choose a piece of music you enjoy listening to. It can be any genre or style. Find a large space you can walk in. It can be outside or inside, a room or a hallway. You just need room to take some strides. Put on your music and walk to the beat. When you run out of space, turn around and walk back the way you came.That’s it. Do this until walking to the beat feels natural and comfortable. Then you can add arm swings while you walk. Swing the right arm out as the left foot takes a step and vice versa. When that feels natural, too, sit in a chair while you listen to the piece and just tap your chest to the beat. Soon your body will internalize the beat on its own with no effort on your part.2. Listen to your music
Listening to the music that you practice is another helpful way to lock in the rhythm. Often times when we’re digging deep into the score, it can be easy to miss the forest for the trees. Playing rhythms almost correctly can give the music an entirely different feel.
If you take the time to listen to your music as a regular part of your practice, you’ll absorb the effect of how the music is expected to sound and you will likely match it naturally.
Just make sure you are listening to outstanding performers. Look for the big names like Horowitz, Argerich, Kissin, and Gould, if possible.3. Play with a metronome
Many musicians have a love/hate relationship with their metronome. Metronomes can definitely create a lot of frustration if you’re not used to using one. However, when it comes to rhythm, it is one of the most powerful practice tools at your disposal. Make it a part of your daily routine. Don’t play your entire piece of music with the metronome. Use it when you are spot-practicing difficult sections. Set the metronome at a much slower tempo than the section will eventually go. Play your hands separately with the metronome, counting the rhythm out loud as you do so. As you master the section at a slow tempo, you may gradually increase the speed of your metronome.If you find the metronome challenging to use with your current music, go back and practice using it on a piece that you already know or on something that feels pretty easy to play.4. Play with backing tracks or drum loops
Playing with a backing tracks or drum loops are great alternatives to using the metronome. They can achieve the same results but they often feel much more natural and intuitive.
Many piano books come with a CD or downloadable audio files that you can play along with.
Sometimes you can find accompaniment tracks to play along with on YouTube, depending on the type of music and specific song you’re working on.
If you have access to a digital piano such as a Clavinova, there are often built-in accompaniments that you can play along.
However, if you don’t have access to any of these options, turning on a simple drum loop from a digital piano, an app or even YouTube will do the job. (On YouTube, search for “drum loop” along with the tempo in BPM you’re aiming for and you’ll find a bunch of options. For example, “drum loop 80 BPM”)
5. Play with other musicians
Even better than playing with a metronome or accompaniment track is playing with other real musicians. Playing with other people can light a fire under you to force you to think and respond quickly as you play. This is a really effective way to hone in your skills and perfect your timing.
When you’re ready to play with other musicians, make sure you’ve put in the work on your end and you know your music as well as possible. Also, try to find musicians that are at a similar or more advanced level than you are.
Note: During these times, you can Skype or video chat instead of meeting up in person!
6. Tap your foot
If you are truly internalizing the beat of your music, you will probably naturally tap your foot or move your body to the pulse of the music as you play. This is a really positive thing and something that will help you be consistent as you learn the rhythm.
If you don’t intuitively tap or move along to the beat as you play, try to make it a habit. It may feel distracting at first, but over time it will become more and more natural.
7. Count or vocalize the rhythm
There’s no escaping good old fashioned counting aloud! There’s a reason why this is a tried and true technique that piano teachers return to over and over again.
Some pianists feel really clumsy counting out loud as they play. If this is you, keep practicing it and over time it will feel more natural. Or, if you prefer, you could also say words or syllables (such as ti or ta) to correspond with the rhythms.
If necessary, write the counts into your music, above the staff. This is a great method for learning syncopated rhythms in particular. Play the hands separately while you count out loud.8. Use apps to practice rhythm
There are a lot of great apps for practicing rhythm where you have to tap the screen to the rhythms you see. This is a great way to practice counting, feeling the beat and reading rhythms.
Some examples of apps are Rhythm Cat or Rhythm Sight Reading Trainer.
9. Clap or tap the rhythm
Another good technique for practicing rhythm is to tap or clap small sections of music before you play. If you’re just focusing on one hand, clap the individual line. If you’re working on both hands together, tap each hand to the rhythm that it will play simultaneously.
Isolating the rhythm before adding in the notes and other details of the music is really helpful.
In addition, you should make rhythm exercise a part of your practice routine. There are several ways you can do this, such as:- Practice etudes by Czerny, Pischna, or similar composers. Learn the etudes under tempo first and gradually increase speed. The rhythms will become internalized with repetition.
- Play Hanon etudes in mixed rhythms. Instead of straight 16th notes, which is what Hanon wrote, change the rhythms each time you play them. For example, swing the 16ths, then reverse swing them. Double the length of the second 16th of each grouping, then the 3rd, etc.
- Make it a habit to sight-read an easy Bach prelude or fugue each day. Sight-reading complex rhythms helps your brain to recognize easier rhythms more quickly and easily.
- Play some pop/rock or Broadway songs every day. Their tricky syncopations will fine-tune your rhythm reading ability.
We hope that some of these ideas will make their way into your practice sessions soon. Which one do you think you’ll try first? What are your favorite ways to practice rhythm?
This post was written by Megan, piano teacher and author of Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog. Visit her website for more piano related blogs for teachers, parents, students, and all things piano.
FAQ
What are the different beats in piano? The beats depend upon your time signature. Look at the beginning of your piece. You will see two numbers on top of each other, kind of like a fraction. The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure. The number can be anything, but three, four, and six are the most common.