Dear Directors,
If you feel that tapping one’s foot is initially essential for successful counting and are interested in where rhythm comprehension ends, or students start to lose the processing ability to perform rhythms correctly, you might want to look over this sheet. I designed it as an assessment sheet to evaluate various rhythm categories, sequenced by difficulty level and RAM processing requirements. The notes chosen are simple, covering the first four or five notes of the concert Bb scale. However, you can easily have the students play them in different keys or play different full scales, going all the way up and repeating the octave on the whole note. Using a metronome, establish your tempo by having your students tap their foot for the first four counts and continue to do so throughout each rhythm line. I suggest the first time, clapping each rhythm while saying the counting out loud. The second time, they play the same line using their instrument. If the issue is a comprehension problem, it will normally show itself in this initial process.
The “Foot Police”: This is a technique I used a lot at the elementary level, but I also find it very effective for middle school instrumentalists in particular situations. Set up your class with adjacent teams of two. Designate one as the “player” and the second as the “watcher”. As you play each exercise line, the watcher taps their foot and observes his partner as they perform. The “watcher” is to look and see if the performing student stops tapping their foot, or starts tapping out the rhythm (rather than the pulse) at any time during that exercise line. The performer still might play the line rhythmically correctly, but it is an indication that the student might be having a problem executing the two mutually exclusive events simultaneously. Rotate positions, switching the students performing and watching within each team. In each case, have the students indicate (thumbs up or down) if they observed their partner performing the requested exercise correctly. From this point on, if there are any problems, the students will probably continue to have issues, so this gives you a starting point from which you might begin your comprehensive rhythm curriculum. By adding the tapping of the foot, you are adding only one additional “processing” task to the performance mix. In music, we are constantly adding more and more onto our music students’ plates, so rhythm errors that are occurring may not necessarily be comprehension in nature or a focus issue with individual students.
My belief (more times than not) is the issue causing much of our students miscounting errors is “RAM” memory. I know that “RAM” is a computer term, but it is an accurate description when you consider how our brain and a computer both work. With a computer, you can just open it up and insert an additional 32 gig of RAM memory and, “problem solved”. With our student’s “biological computer”, it is not that easy. Processing memory in one’s brain can only increase at its own pace over time. This is the reason counting issues are so inconsistent. When our brain becomes “over-processed”, it RANDOMLY selects musical aspects of our overall musical performance that we either “deemphasize” or “discard”, to lower what we are processing to be within our present range. I find that around the freshmen or sophomore year in high school, most students’ brains develop to the point where this becomes much less of an issue, but in middle school, the balancing of “RAM” issues needed to perform at a high level is constantly something band directors struggle with.
This is an area I have done a lot of research and field testing with since I retired. It is not an easy issue by any means, but one thing I have found to help is the concept (which you probably already use) of “simplification” and “reconstruction”. The bottom line is, that you have to find ways to lower your “RAM” expectations on your students until the number of processes each student can perform has increased on its own. This is especially challenging in that the processing range of students within any given band or orchestra program can be HUGE!!! I have written countless papers and exercises dealing with this issue and trying to find different ways of helping students manage their processing memory when performing music. One of them is the “Rhythm Games” process and project, which is a series of many articles presently being periodically published here in “Bandworld” magazine online. As I work with my fellow band directors on this project, I will continue posting new content as I complete them.
I would like to go back to the subject of “players” and “watchers” for a moment if I can. Another technique I have used to help students with finding or feeling pulse is the “Frankenstein Approach”. I do this a lot when I work individually with newer instrumentalists, but have also had students help each other while they are teamed up with a partner. Sometimes putting a student in the position of being the “teacher” helps them understand specific problems they are having. The “player” places their toe or heel (depending on what they “tap” with) on top of the “watcher’s” toe. Follow the same procedures in playing your chosen exercise line and explaining that you have dissected a single body into two and that the “watcher” is now actually the “player’s” foot. The “player” now focuses just on the performance of the given rhythms as the “watcher” is now solely responsible for executing the pulse, while still allowing the “player” to feel it as they perform. This only needs to be done if one of the students is having difficulty doing the two processes simultaneously, but it does not always work. However, it is another little trick you can stick into your band director’s “Batman Utility Belt” for a future day.
If you decide to give this sheet a try, let me know how it worked out. This is my first “draft” so I may be incorrect in my rhythm/RAM sequencing, or there might be something I just missed. I took the rhythm categories as far as I could to fit everything on one page so I could gain initial input before going any further. Also, I would be interested in if you agree OR DISAGREE with my assessment about a key reason for counting issues occurring with middle school band students. However, the more I work with your band students, the stronger I feel, “IT’s ALL ABOUT THE RAM.” Thank you for your time.
Rich Moon
[email protected]
www.rhythmmastersimprovisation.org
