willothewhisper: taki-sensei: 5-note patterns Wow, I feel like I’m betraying my nation and lea

willothewhisper:

taki-sensei:

5-note patterns

Wow, I feel like I’m betraying my nation and leaking a state secret by posting this. You won’t find this anywhere else on the internet. It’s trick passed around in my band pyramid and I have interesting stories about how it reached me.

Basically, when you’ve got sixteenth-note runs that are tripping you up, or you sound uneven and not very fluid while playing them, this trick will solve your problems. So, here’s what you do, step by step:

1. Break the sixteenth note passage into blocks of 5 and start with the first block, as shown in the 1st measure of this sheet
   
2. Play those 5 notes in the rhythm pattern of the 2nd measure. Repeat 10 times– just like that, don’t go on yet.
3. Move on to the next measure’s pattern. Do that, and justthat: 10 times.
4. Rinse and repeat, until you’ve down all the rhythm patterns on this sheet. 
5. Voila: you sound 100x better!

This technique is most effective when you combine it with the “up 4, down 2” metronome trick. So, play each rhythm pattern 10x at say, 100bpm. Then play it 10x at 104bpm, then at 102bpm, and then 106bpm, etc.

This should work for all woodwinds, and sometimes for piano. I don’t play brass or strings though, so I’m not sure– but it could!

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