I
disagree when people say, " I don't have
any rhythm. I can't dance." Your very being,
your every breath and heartbeat are a rhythm.
Your body naturally keeps a beat without your
brain thinking about it. Of course, since our
society favours cerebral intelligence as opposed
to corporal intelligence, we have become in
dischord with music for the simple reason that
we are in dischord with our bodies. In order
to do that, we need to re-educate our listening
faculties. You listen with your ears and with
your body (that's what it means when your teacher
yells, "...just feel the music!" and
you think, "I'm trying! I'm trying!").
To begin with, here are a few clarifications
on different musical terms to know what to listen
for.
The beat -- Beats are pulses
like a heartbeat that sound in a repetitive,
predictable manner.
The melody -- Sounds have different
tones, from the bass tones, to middle to treble
tones. The melody is the theme or the actual
song in the music. In music there are melodic
instruments which sing and the constant, steady,
rhythmic instruments which lay the foundation
for the melody to contrast with. The song is
therefore laced through the rhythm.
The rhythm -- Rhythm is a particular
pattern that differentiates itself with others
to create genres of music. Waltz has a 123,
down up up pattern while salsa has a 123 step
step step pause pattern. House music has a very
obvious 1 2 1 2 pattern which gives less structure
and more freedom style: freestyle.
Webster's Dictionary defines rhythm as being
"A movement or action marked by regular
recurrence of elements; A recurrent pattern
formed by notes of differing stress and duration.
What does it mean to have rhythm? It means knowing
how to move your body in a coordinated fashion
to the spaces between the beats. It means knowing
how to predict repetition so your body takes
over your thinking mind. Letting go seems so
easy for some to do, but it is actually a huge
transition for many-from being controlled, contrived
or inhibited, to loose and free.
A bar of music -- This is a
technical way of saying a group of 4 beats.
A measure of music -- This
is also a technical way of saying a group of
8 beats (2 bars). Music is written in a format
made of bars or measures repeating themselves
over and over. To know where the beats are,
you need to know where the first and last beats
are in a bar (1 and 4) or 1 and 8 beats (a measure).
The best way to do distinguish the repetitions
is to listen to house music, because it is sooooo
repetitive and there is more rhythm than melody.
The bass is predominant so it spells out the
beats for you. Your body resonates to its vibration.
If you can't feel that, then you are definitely
too cerebral ie you are not trusting your body
to feel the pulses. There's no excuse, stop
saying you can't hear the beat, just sit down
and open your ears-everyone can do it. Then
move your body to the beat. You'll feel how
to predict when the next beat is. Since there
is equal distance between beats, your body will
get into a rhythm, synchronizing body movement
with the beats in the music.
If you are having trouble hearing where the
1 is in the music, or keeping the beat steady,
then I strongly recommend that you take my Music
Appreciation Workshops. The dates will be Sunday,
January 28th and on Friday, February 16th, this
workshop will have a special theme -- working
in groups to interpret the question, "What
does this sound look like?.
Finally, knowing where the beat is in the music
is key to dancing in a structured partner dance.
Dancing not only requires timing but also coordination
and balance so you can prepare your body to
move to the beat. Be patient with yourself,
and remember that you'll only get to where you
want to be with determination and practice (just
like anything in life). It just ain't gonna
happen magically! So have fun while you're learning
and look forward to your mistakes-the more you
make the closer you'll become to your goal. |
