Rhythmic arrhythmia

And just like that, unlike every other year, despite 2020 being a bitch, its now that the time is going full steam ahead. Yeah, I know its all relative and all that science thing, but what translates to real life is what matters at the end of the day (or year).

It is always said that teaching is the new learning. Among the things that I pick up from my students, I thought this one was most common. While there are the kids who kinda pick up things without understanding (I don’t blame them. I started early, I did the same too), there are also a few grown ups who understand music, though not able to sing as per their need. These are people who might have perhaps discontinued learning for a long period of time, or who can now dwell on the beautiful structured arrangement of the basic lessons, or whatever. 

So these lessons basically are structured so that your sense of pitching and rhythm sits in your head like a nail in the coffin. Firm and not wanting to get out. (Surely not, since its a coffin). While the lessons advance, there is a lot of play with the meter and rhythm. And how the relative speed changes. While doing so, and while learning a few unusual rhythm patterns, most are either able to sing or clap to the rhythm. Stand-alone, its possible. But combine them and there, you get a perfect recipe for disaster. The pitching goes off. The claps become arrhythmic. I am not an advocate of memorising. I can’t do it myself, so there is no way on earth I’d ask someone else to do it. I encourage them to remember the pattern of the notes that they deliver so that one uncertainty is dealt with at one time.

Sigh. Uncertainty. How it can link such flawlessly to life. And as I write this, I smile with the feeling of rising and falling with the uncertain wave. Isn’t life just uncertain? I complicate things, don’t know if all of us do, but I do. And sometimes, when such real life examples come by, what do you do? I teach all my students to overcome one uncertainty at a time. Enjoy it. You’ve no idea how it’ll all sit through. The complicated note patterns sit through the rhythmic claps. They just do. You just don’t know when it will. But if you keep working on eliminating one uncertainty at a time, like for here - get the singing pattern right and don’t worry about the rhythm claps now. Once you are deft with that, your mind can work on the other unknown. 

Is this how simple life also is?