I started learning music when I was 12. I was fascinated by my upstairs neighbor’s new violin, and I could hear him practicing.
So, I asked my mother to sign me up for lessons. How those classes went, is a story for another post. The violin was super loud and screechy. I am sure my other neighbors were like-
I didn’t continue playing after 6 months, but I can still recite those ragas and rhythms by memory, after 15 years!
Why was that? Most of it was learning by ear. My teacher would sit in front of me and go- Ga Pa Dha Ni Saaa- Play. I had notations, but I don’t remember relying on that too much.
I had memorized it by constantly listening to it.
Recently, I noticed that my students were lacking the ability to visualize rhythms while reading music. Perhaps I could introduce them to what I had learned as a kid? That is how I thought of hosting Rhythm Challenges.
You must have seen Indian classical musicians, especially tabla players recite their rhythms: Ta Dhin Dhin Dha...
(You must watch the Center-Fruit chewing gum ad. It was quite entertaining)
Many systems across the world use aural rhythms. What I chose was the Kodaly method, since it blends with staff notations well, and I am not well versed with Indian rhythms. The Kodály approach provides a clear systematic way to think about and speak rhythms in music which very much complements the solfège system for pitch. Kodály exercises encourage the participants to aurally, visually, and physically engage with the rhythms they're playing.
A few of my students had made presentations on alternative ways of counting rhythms during Summer Recital 2021. I made some exercises based on this method and shared them. I used to revise the exercises every week because that’s how they were going to remember them.
The event was held on 25th July, Sunday.
We had 3 levels. Students were free to study rhythms of higher grades if they liked.
You can have a look at the material here and feel free to use it. I would love to know if it helped you or any of your students.
Students had to count 6 rhythms, which were given to them on the spot. They had to recite the rhythms with a metronome. Points were given based on accuracy and tempo.
It was a tough competition, especially Levels 2 and 3.
I have been learning MS-Excel for the past few weeks. So, I was able to create these graphs easily, using Pivot tables. Also, I have recently moved in with my parents, so I had a lot of help from my mother with entering marks in the sheets. Check out this really cool rangoli art she made on the day. More art by Mrs. Aparna Deshpande here, on Instagram.
My aim is to provide multiple low-stakes performance platforms for my students. The hope is that they
1) learn new things
2) get rid of performance anxiety
3) keep an active interest in learning music.
Since last year we have had 4 events- Scales Competition, Tune Factory, Summer Recital 2021, and Rhythm Challenges. What next? I would want them to compose, learn accompaniment, and many other skills which will make them well-rounded musicians.
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