Featuring practice steps for "Glassworks," by Philip Glass
(3 against 2)
My wonderful colleague, Dr. Glenn Webb, reminded me of a marvelous chamber work, Glassworks, by the distinguished composer, Philip Glass. The first movement, “Opening” is a terrific example of 3 against 2. The opening movement has triplets in the RH and duplet 8ths in the LH. It is repetitive throughout, and I love this repetitiveness because, so often in
cross rhythms, there will be a single beat of “3 against 2,” or “2 against 3.” This can be quite a challenge to feel that rhythm when everything before and after that beat can be so different. In this movement, Philip Glass has given us a beautiful and mesmerizing piece of 3 against 2, and he has also given us the repetition necessary to truly learn to feel this wonderful rhythm!
As teachers, we all love to use the rhythm words for cross rhythms, and often that is my gateway into teaching a student to “hear” and “feel” the “3 against 2.” Very often, these rhythm words will be exactly what the student needs, and then by going to the musical example, this is all they need, and they will experience success.
Yet, for students that don’t hear or feel these rhythm words in the same way, it can be a huge challenge for the teacher. I feel a huge responsibility to find what works for each student, and to figure out how each student is “hearing” the rhythm.
Sometimes in their progress, a student can slide backward with cross rhythms, and they might go back to the “sing-song” of the duplets rather than playing those even. I’m used to that, and if it happens, then we need to take a step back, and go through the steps outlined below. This will clean up the cross rhythm very quickly. Musical education can be quite a moving target!
The cross rhythm steps outlined below give more detail into how the rhythm of “3 against 2” fits together. And these steps are actually a very useful rhythm lesson! And students will get a feel for different note values and for the relationships between these note values.
Some students will zip through these steps and then they’ve got it in a week or two. Others need a lot more time. Also, I don’t do all of the steps every week with each student. I will see what works the best, and what is helping them hear and feel this cross rhythm, and often will do two steps in a week.
The goal is that the student can internalize these wonderful cross rhythms, enjoy playing the rhythm, and then make beautiful music!
Practice Steps - Glassworks, movement 1 – by Philip Glass
Listening
- Practice hands alone (HA) over and over in 2 and 4 measure phrases.
- Practice hands together (HT) over and over in 2 and 4 measure phrases.
- Remember to make it fit!
- Keep the triplets even!
- Keep the duplets even!
Mathematical/theoretical
- 3 against 2 (3x2=6)
Rhythm (counting)
- Count 1-2-3-4-5-6
- Count 1 - 2& - 3
Rhythm (together – right – left – right)
- 3 against 2
Rhythm words
- Strawberry time
- Not difficult
- WHO parked the car
- George Washington
- Nice cup of tea
Cross Rhythms Exercise
- 3 against 2
For examples of the above, please download files below:
YouTube Channel: Piano Q&A
Teaching Cross Rhythms - pt 1
Teaching Cross Rhythms - pt 2
Teaching Cross Rhythms - pt 3
No comments:
Post a Comment