Music counting help!!!!!!!!!!?

i have been playing the cello for four years now, i can play pretty well, but tempos and rythems are my worst areas, i havent really learned how to count out music, but i can do it when im not playing, i can sometimes even do it with the metronome, but it dosent work with my brain when im playing, to me the clicks of the metronome are no help i cant ever keep tempo, so what are some ways to learn how to count while i play and keep tempo? i graduated high school and am going to college in the fall and plan to major in music preformance and also take music education, but i dont know how well i will do if i cant count or keep tempo. what do i do???

Music counting help!!!!!!!!!!?

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Your teachers will work on this with you. Everyone has areas in which they need improvement. There are various books which stress various rhythmic patterns. There are any number of common rhythm patterns which you will see over and over again in scores. Once you see these enough, they will become second nature to you. Try breaking a beat into four parts when you count. That should help you think about the beat. Also you will probably take rhythmic dictation in one of your classes. You just need to work on that part of your performace in the same way that basketball players practice their jump shots. Good luck!

Music counting help!!!!!!!!!!?

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Ha, that's my problem too, except I've been playing the cello for about 7 years now Report It


sorry man...idk....I had problems counting with the metronome too back when I took lessons.....I usually just feel the music and dont count...but then again...im far from being "skilled" piano player...I havent played the piano in a couple of years.....and I mostly played classical stuff...which is a lot easier to count then say jazz
Don't be discouraged. There are lots of people (myself included) who have trouble sight reading. What helped me was exposure to lots of music. You will encounter new rythyms all the time but eventually you will encounter similar ones. That way you can learn to recognize how certain rythyms sound and little variations will be no trouble. Learn to always subdivide the music in your head, as in think: one-and-two-and-.... or one-e-and-a-two-e-and-a-...

To keep tempo start tapping your foot or use some other method to keep a steady beat. You can even bob your head (not to much though) to keep the beat.

Good Luck!
I always found it helps if you sing it out loud first. My teacher told me to march while playing because it helps keep a steady beat. but i'm not skilled enough to walk and play at the same time. haha. another thing you should try are duets. they are really good for keeping beats because normally one person keeps it while the other person plays melody. It really helped me out. just keep working on it. and listen to the person who wrote above me. she had some really good advice.
What I do with my students who have a hard time counting as they play is have them go thru the whole piece and write the counts above the music with a pencil. once you have played thru several times, erase the marks and try it out...
The two things I do (I'm a violist and violinist) are:

1) Mark the beats lightly with pencil - slash marks through the notes or rests that are on the beat, and;

2) Play it with a metronome VERY slowly.

I have to do this whenever I work on a new piece of music, particularly contemporary music. Sometimes, even Bach, Mozart or Beethoven will have rhythmic curve balls!

And as others have mentioned, practice singing the part, or just saying "dah, dah-dah... dah dah" with the rhythm, without trying to also do the notes.

Good luck!

-Karl
I had that same issue when I was in high school and played clarinet, I also had that issue beginning college as a voice major. What helped me a lot was conducting class. Learning how to conduct with a metronome helped me tremendously to keep a steady tempo. The other class that helped me a lot with that was keyboarding. Learning how to play the piano will help too!

Good luck!
Here's your problem. Your playing ability far exceeds your ability to count and play. You can't expect your counting ability to just immediately catch up. Get some much easier music and practice it while counting the rhythms as you play. As a string player you can even vocalize it while your playing. Hard at first, but with persistance you'll get better and gradually increase your rhythmic reading to the place your performance is at today. Trying to apply counting to what your playing now will only result in frustration.

Band Director 20+ yrs.
hey, don't give up! i have also had problems with couting, but what helps me is to write the counting in your music (i.e., one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a...), and that way you will see it AS you play your music. that way you won't have to worry about trying to think about the couting AND play the right notes at the same time, and it will become more like one task. if that doesn't work, you could try putting your cello down and just clapping out the rythms, because then you will have a better sense of how it goes in your head, without having to worry about the notes while you're getting the rythm down. hope this helps!
I"ve had that same problem for years, what my piano teacher does is have me clap the rythmns first and then try to play them. If it helps you can also put the number of beats on your music. To play with a metronome first go slow and keep trying, eventually you will get it.
I've had some pupils with counting problems and I found the best thing was stepping out the notes (as in Dalcroze Eurythmics). For a quarter note take a simple step, for eighth notes take running steps, for a half note a giant step, and so on. Do this where no one is watching!

The bigger the muscle group you involve (walking involves your biggest muscles), the better you grasp and remember a rhythm.

You can also train yourself to distinguish the beat from the melody by humming to yourself a song you know by heart (since childhood), while tapping a regular beat on a table with a finger. Do it many times, until the beat is easy and reliable, and does not simply copy the actual notes of the song.

Then work out in your head how the rhythm should be written, and finally write it all down (disregard the pitches).

By coming at it from the other side like this, you really can solve the problem completely.