I have various strengths in flute playing, but I have one major weakness, I find it really hard to keep a steady tempo, I tend to go faster and faster. I am better than I was, but any tips for keeping a steady pulse, especially in sight reading etc?

I feel stupid though - I've been playing for years, I should be able to do this!

Thanks!

This is kind of an off the wall piece of advice but try 'not' doing some things you already do - for example, how do you count? I used to speed up on the violin until I learned that I was tapping my foot on the minim of a four bar and that I had a very sympathetic foot - slowing down when I got to hard bits and speeding up in the easy bits - all the while I was convinced I was keeping a good beat!

Seriously, though, if you can work with a metronome and really work on making the notes you play represent the rhythm, you'll find it will slowly improve. Do you sing your pieces in solfa sometimes before playing them? Doing this with a metronome will help loads with developing that feel of a regular pulse.

Otherwise try playing along with other instrumentalists - if you have a piano playing friend, this will be really helpful.

Allan

Thanks for your reply.

I currently tap my foot, but my teacher's banned me from doing it

The problem is, I can play the rhythm and notes fine, just can't keep it at a steady pace.

I'm afraid I am the most novice anyone could be at solfege! Once had a quick lesson in it by Cyrilla and Bagpuss, but am not fluent in the slightest.

I can play better when I am in groups as it helps me keep the beat. I suppose it is just playing unaccompanied really.

As far as I know, the best way for you to develop a steady pace is to play with the metronome regularly and when you go out of sync, stop and analyse why. It may be that you tend to rush with certain note values, long notes etc. Hope this helps.

Tapping with your foot won't help if you tend to have an erratic tempo - not recommended!

If semiquavers tend to run away with you (eg in the Bach you're playing at the moment), lean very slightly on the first one of each group of four. This will stop the rest getting faster. If you use a metronome, set it to quaver speed first of all to give yourself as much help as possible.

I use to spend up all the times until I learn to use the metronome more often. Good luck

If you EVER get a chance to do some Dalcroze, Nicki, this will really help as you will be moving to the pulse with large motor movements, which helps so much to internalise a steady pulse.

It's not that I do the semiquavers quicker than they should, just generally EVERYTHING in anything just gets faster


Thanks - I'll bear that in mind.

I should be able to do this, grr.

To correct dodgy rhythms, I find it helpful to sing the rhythms using the their symbol names, ie ta for crotchet, ti for quaver, ti-ka-ti-ka for semiquavers, tim-ka for dotted-semi. So the Bach would be ti ta ta ti-ka-ti-ka ti-ka-ti-ka etc. Emphasise the first of each group to keep it firmly in your head. Remember rhythm is felt not mentally generated. Try it without the tune. Metronomes are of course a helpful tool as well.

Thanks Neil

I tend to wiggle the toes on my right foot to keep in time. This was a problem in my recent concerts though because it meant I couldn't wear strappy sandals!

Amber
x

Oh no!!

I tap my foot without noticing

Even a do-it-yourself version of this can help. Hum your pieces as you are walking steadily, or march around the room - move to the beat till you feel it.

Play with a metronome - yes, I know other folks have already said it, but it does help......sometimes you find you've slowed down/speeded up, but can't spot exactly where it's happening. A metronome will help to pinpoint exactly where you're starting to speed up - maybe you're changing from flowing semiquavers to steady crotchets, but the crotchets are fractionally too fast (that's just a possible example, as I've noticed it happens a lot with my pupils) - going from a shorter to a longer note value, the longer one sometimes gets shortened slightly as the brain gets a bit confused, and vice versa, changing from crotchets to quavers or semiquavers, the note value may not be exactly half or quarter the length of the crotchet.

snap! It's because I get excited (sometimes anxious).
My teacher told me that trying to get me to play with a steady speed
was like taking a large dog for a walk and needing to pull back
on the leash all the time ( )
It felt to me like steady pulse was kind of plodding along being
really boring.
so I tried the following
One was to use a metronome so I could see exactly where I
started to race (for the bach invention, I got to the end of
every bar before the metronome!!!! well, Bach excites me)
Two was to think about conveying my excitement without
speed, conversely being "cool". And maybe thinking about
relaxing my hands in between every note/hand position.

I got the Bach invention sorted simply by calming down in the end.

(Only really gifted and talented people have this problem!! sorry, couildn't resist )

I can't reply fully, on school library computer, but I get told in my Bach E major, the semiquavers are prefectly in time, but in the easy bits I rush

Wild guess: Maybe you think the easy bits are easy and so it's boring/timewasting for other people to listen through it? If so,
you could try giving it a different meaning (somehow)....like when you are at the top of the rollercoaster you seem to go slowly
and the higher it is the slower it is and the bigger the thrill to go fast downhill afterwards(well, you can do better than me I'm sure at finding some appropriate "story" )

I don't think I do, I think I concentrate so hard on getting the fast bits right, I forget about the easy bits

ah ha
I read an interesting story about a young pianist giving a recital as part of the award for winning a competition.
He had concentrated so much on the hard bits that, in the middle of the recital, coming up to the easy bit,
suddenly realised that he hadn't properly memorised it and had to skip it......and luckily it was where the orchestra was silent
and the conductor was smart enough to realise the solo was shorter than normal!!! I guess even the easy bits have to have their fair share of attention....
I'm sure you'll figure it out!!

There you are - prepare to buy a motorised flute. You set its tempo before you start playing.


J/kidding.

Serious now: This may be a silly suggestion but have you tried one of those flashing metronomes? There isn't the incessant ticking but you can tap your foot to the flash or just obeserve, checking if you've speeded / sped? up every half-minute or so.

Anyway, just something else to add to the ideas "pot".

Tsk tsk, I don't think Nicki needs any encouragement to start smoking pot again....

(sorry Nicki, couldn't resist... )

Looking forward to hearing how you get on...

Sounds as if you might need to look at how well developed your internal sense of pulse is. Try a Kodaly course if you are able and haven't done so already.

HK, Nicki would if she could but it's not possible at the moment.

Thanks all. Internet is back working but got to go out so won't be able to post long replies.

Watermelon sugar - No, I haven't. It's because I have one of those clockwork metronomes which according to the receipt inside was purchased in 1974, so as we have a metronome, my parents don't see the point in me getting a different one.

Sarah - You used the words "start smoking again", when did you think I stopped

HK - I would if I could. I've asked Cyrilla for information about the summer school for the past two years, but it has just been too expensive, despite the fact I live near Leicester. I can't attend any Kodaly classes as I don't live in London.

I have the same two problems - expense and location. "Take some Kodaly lessons" only works if one can get to and pay for them...

Well, tell you what.
Next time tap with your bog toe. I seriously do that when I play the violin/viola...because if you tap your foot, the audience will see that, but not if you tap your big toe ...that's the secret of which I discovered. Hope that it'll be useful to you.

I try but my toes are increedibly uncoordinated!

Well...you'll have to train them to be coordinated!!
Anyway well done for fixing the internation problem, so we can see you daily now.

Ummmm *confused*

"Should" alert! "Should" and "ought" seem to me to be very rarely helpful. I commend to you instead the watchword I ask the members of my elementary orchestra (for adults) to observe:

I can't do that yet!

I think of my metronome as an extremely useful tool, and use it a great deal. I often take it into exams (it's the electronic kind with a flashing light as an alternative to the click) especially if I need to set the tempo at the beginning of the same piece at different speeds for several candidates.

Foot-tapping or toe-tapping isn't helpful, and has lots of disadvantages. I used to sit next to a foot-tapper in orchestra. We rehearsed on a very nice sprung floor, which meant that I felt her every tap through the seat of my chair. It's a very difficult habit to break, I suppose mainly because people often aren't aware they are doing it. For a recorder teacher's humorous view of foot-tapping, see Heather Wastie's poem [i]Until I saw your foot[i] from her book of the same name (haven't got the publisher info handy but could find it). It starts:

I thought this music was in four,
Until I saw your foot.
But now I think it must be three
Or maybe five, I can't quite see.
Or six? Or maybe not.

Read it here:

http://www.geocities.com/Principessa07/Foot.htm

Best of luck for this evening's audition. Give them a nice concert!

Ah.....another typo....
I was saying well done for fixing the internet problem, because there was an earlier post entitled "Hi from Nicki Flute", as you computer has broke down because of the internet problem or something.....

Thanks :S I hope it'll go ok. I'll read the poem after the audition


Ah yes! Thanks! Actually, my email isn't working at the moment, but at least the internet does. I thought it was a pun to do with the toe/you meant intonation!

Ah...ha....no
well anyway, it good that problems are fixed.

I find my metronome of little help these days. Too inflexible.

I will tape myself, and play back looking for major shifts.

Detailed counting is good when learning notes. But I actually find steadiness increases if you reduce the number of counts per bar as you know the piece better. For example, I might learn a tricky rhythm counting in quavers - but once I have it I will count in crotchets and eventually in minims. Even the "one to a bar" approach at the end.

The logic here is that you get the big picture much steadier if you step back from the fine detail. Microcounting robs you of the more occasional milestone that is easier to keep steady.

While the temptation is to get more and more detailed and fussy to address the problem, you may in fact be doing something to make the variability more pronounced.

Thanks for that! For some pieces I am playing, I just have to count in quavers, but with things like 6/8 I no longer count it in 6 but in 2. Taping myself and seeing where I am going out, is also a good idea.