Last week I learnt about a concept that I had previously heard of but had never taken a course in - Dalcroze eurhythmics. In the past, whenever teaching rhythm I would always clap, sing, or tap my feet, but I would seldom use my entire body when responding to pulse and rhythms.
We began by using foot steps to follow a rhythm - moving smoothly and slowly when the rhythm was measured and steady before building up to jogging or running when the rhythm became quicker and more complicated. Instead of merely moving your fingers or lips and tongue as one does when playing your own instruments, when applying the concepts of Dalcroze eurhythmics one responds with the whole of the body.
The rhythm and pulse is gradually absorbed via muscle memory. The level of energy required varies hugely depending on the type of rhythmic pattern being addressed. I found it particularly interesting jumping and moving around to the rhythm of ‘dotted patterns’ (i.e. a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver) – which is definitely not easy!
I struggled with this the first few times - sometimes I did not jump high enough and landed earlier than I was supposed to (and as a result the semiquaver began earlier than expected) and on another occasion I jumped too high (leading to the opposite problem)! The ‘jump’ should exactly reflect the ‘bouncing’ nature of the pattern, and the height of the leap helps you experience the ‘space’ of the dotted quaver. The experience is very useful in helping one not only to get the note timing right but also to ‘feel’ the bounciness of the pattern. I think it could be particularly useful in helping students to better understand articulation relating to accents, semi-legato, etc.
This was the most tiring music lesson I have ever had, yet a very rewarding one!
Posted by
Palas Chan
