The Rhythm Method and the Learning Process

Do you have a way of starting the melody, rhythm and memorization process for all new tunes? Pipe music is easy to read if we see the beats. The beats stand out clearly if we understand that where possible, the eighth and sixteenth notes are grouped together or tied together by a single or double bar on the bottom. Thus every tune looks like a set of “beat modules”….. 2 beats per bar, 3 beats per bar and so on. A simplistic overview helps to identify the rhythms. Simple time signatures, based on the quarter note have beats that are made of a single quarter, two eighths, or four sixteenths. Compound rhythms, based on the eighth note, will have 3 eighth notes tied together, or beats made up of a quarter and an eighth or a dotted quarter. The downbeat is always the first note in the group and to be more precise, it occurs on the G grace note of the beat group. Scan any tune you want. With few exceptions, each beat begins, where possible, with a strong G grace note.

To understand my music, I define a tune as a simple progression of notes that are embellished by accents on the beat and rhythms both before the beat and after the beat…the accents being mostly G grace notes ( the strongest) and the rhythms being doublings, grips, taorluaths, birls and various combinations found in most tutor books. You must be able to answer the old question “where does each of these rhythms begin and end relative to the downbeat?”

If you can play rhythmically, then you can play musically….

Jim McGillivary’s Rhythmic Fingerwork text has been an invaluable source for the learning and teaching of our music. He systematically uses his “musical GPS” system to identify the exact location of the downbeat in movements like doublings, grips, taorluaths, tachums, etc. Make no mistake about it, McGillivary tells the when and where for all grace notes and he is the only source that tells you the all important “where not”.

To understand this rhythmic approach to learning a tune I will use the all familiar Scotland the Brave.

1 Here is a score for the tune:

Starting with the first bar, the melody (downbeat) notes are:

A A C C (Bar 1)

A’ A’ A’ C (Bar 2)

D F C C (Bar 3)

B E E E (Bar 4)

The rhythms are defined by embellishments like a single G grace note to accent the down beat, a taorluath to give a rhythm after the beat, an E grace note to again accent a downbeat, or a B to introduce another beat etc.

2 So, starting with Bar 1:

The complete package on low A is

1. Grace note to accent 2. Grip portion of taorluath for rhythm after the beat

Likewise on the next low A, you have

1. E grace note ( of taorluath ) to accent the low A 2. B eighth note for rhythm after the beat

For the first C, you have

1. G grace note of doubling for strong accent on beat 2. D grace note of doubling after the beat for rhythm 3. E grace note to low A to complete the rhythm

For the last C, you have

1. G grace note of doubling for strong accent on beat 2. D grace of doubling after the beat for rhythm 3. E eighth note to complete the rhythm

On each of these notes is a grace note for accent (to simulate volume) and a rhythm that follows. Drilling on each complete rhythm becomes essential to musically play the tune.

The individual rhythms are as follows:

On Low A On Low A On C On C

Likewise you have rhythms on each of the other melody notes in the chart above. Most of these rhythms start with G grace note accents

3 where possible. All of them conclude with either notes (of a connecting variety) or grace notes that follow the strong downbeat for a post rhythmic effect.

For the next bar, the rhythms include the strike on High A, the grip following the next High A, the E following the third High A and finally a G grace note on C, followed by a D grace note to complete the doubling and an E grace note to the low A.

Follow the pattern through the remaining bars for a similar summary. The result of all this becomes apparent. If you are to play musically, you must play each of the complete rhythms in its entirety as a drill…no breaths…repeating several times over. Do not play as single note and/or grace note entities. This prevents the learner from seeing the full rhythmic picture.

When all these rhythms have been mastered, start a drill that will play all the rhythms together in one bar phrases and then 2 bar phrases like:

and finally

As usual, if you wish to investigate these teaching and learning concepts further, please contact me by email : [email protected] or through my website, www.thecaptainscorner.com

4 All input is appreciated.

Ken Eller

5