Enter into the browser and customize your settings, then click print this study to generate specific pieces of music for you to play back. It is almost like a interactive sight-reading coach. You create rhythm patterns and hear them played back with instructions on where hits are. Then, you attempt to match them accuratley in real-time. The widget also playable with either touch input/mouse or via your computer keyboard.
First, customize the study in compositor desk located on the left-hand side of the interface. Using the drop-down menu you’ll choose the type of meter you’d like to practice, running from the familiar common time through more complex combinations such as seven-eighths or five-fours. Next, decide how many bars you wish to create (one to eight), and thus how long an exercise it’s going to become. Finally, decide at what reading level you’d like to tackle: from simple eighth and quarter notes through to triplet and sixteenth-note lattices and beyond.
How to Practice Rhythm with This Tool
The tie, rest and syncopation sliders lets you tweak how tricky it’s going to be! Syncopation increases the chance of playing off-beats. Rests add a silent space to hold but not play. The tie slider forms a curving arc between the notes, showing they need to be held, not re-striated. Pick your accent policy too, indicating which beat gets emphasis so you’re learning rhythm as well as dynamics.
Click on print this study once happy with your preferences and watch the score display automaticly engrave the newly composed measures. Toggle on the beat rulers (to show where beats begin and end) and count syllables (to read the rhythm verbatim beneath the staves). You’ll see vertical dotted lines indicating where the breaks between beats occur in a bar. This will give you an idea of pulse structure underneath. Count Syllables is an overlay of text under the stave as well, which will help you decode what’s written down by giving you a ‘counting out’ approach. These overlays may be switched off if you want to test yourself against your counting skills alone.
You can then click through each of these scores and hear them by selecting any bar (or measure) to highlight it as the one to play/practice. The highlighting system also works with keyboard arrows (without needing a mouse), moving the highlight from measure-to-measure. The idea here is that if a particular section is causing trouble, you can pick out those bars and work them specifically. Selecting a bar plays just that bar. You can choose to re-engrave it too, so you create a different randomly generated pattern in the same confines.
Get to know the rhythm by listening to it on its own (click here) or hearing it within the marked measure below (click here). I’ve included a coach marked measure button which will play just the bar you have chosen. This allows you to hear the pattern on its own and perhaps use the tempo slider to slow the performance down if you find the rhythm is too quick than you can follow at first. I also include a full audio button that plays the whole study from beginning to end and highlights your progress on the bar with a moving cursor. You can adjust the volume of the click sounds using the volume slider to ensure they are loud enough but not overbearing.
To do this, simply tap the spacebar when you’re ready to go, or hit the large printed attacks pad on the page. The widget then goes into performance mode with a count in and a silent, sight-reading take. You just has to tap the pad at each printed attack. These include accented beats and any filled note heads. Don’t tap the rest or any tied continuation because these will be silent. You need to keep time internally instead.
As you play, the system is tracking your timing against its own internal clock and stamps the attacks below the written notation. Once you’ve performed, the widget creates a detailed report of how accurately you played it. You will receive a grade based on your playing accuracy. This information is broken down into categories like steadiness and mean offset, giving you an idea of where you may need to improve. Any bars with large discrepancies are highlighted and tagged as trouble bars, which means you can print out just those problem spots and try them again. The reprint trouble bars button also let you create new patterns on any measures that were below the accuracy threshold.
Begin at a low reading level for best practice and build up in difficulty as your confidence improves. Keep the ruler and count syllables on when first practising, then switch them off so it becomes just like an actual sight-reading situation. The rehearse to performance button gives you a step-by-step process from demoing the piece to a silent count-in, which is exactly how a pro would practise. It will help you get into the feel of the rhythm and then challenge your reaction time. There’s also the option to stretch out the interface with the fullscreen button so that less clutter gets in the way as you work.
A word of warning: be consistent when practising. Also, remember that there are keyboard shortcuts and other notation convention notes available in the help panel. Keep in mind that the widget will adjust to your progress. It won’t race through tricky sections, but will instead maintain an even pace at whatever speed you choose. This allows it to offer endless variations to sharpen up your reading skills.
Set a starting point by picking an easy reading level and a comfortable meter. Create a study, listen to the example, and try it out for yourself to test how well you can get the beat right. Let the feedback help you adjust your settings, and gradually increase the complexity of the pattern. It all starts from one measure. Find your pulse and click print on this study to begin your practice journey.