The pauses need to be long enough for all this to take place, but as we get better and quicker at all this, the pauses will become shorter and eventually disappear. Prepare mentally for the next burst of energy.Revel in the sensation of feeling physically free!.Consciously command the muscles in your hand/arm/wherever to loosen and return to a state of balance.

Immediately release effort вЂ“ think of a light switch going off.Play the main note forte and pause on it.On that long note, actively command a release of effort (I prefer this term to вЂњrelaxвЂќ, since if we really are relaxed, our arm would fall off the keyboard, but you know what I mean). If we have several fast notes, we can allow a crescendo so that they lead to the next long note. Instead of thinking of it as a notated rhythm, we can think of a long note (with or without a pause) followed by one, two, three or more grace notes played very fast and very light. Here is a different way with rhythms which preserves all the usefulness of the process, and which helps to eliminate some of the negative effects. The drawback is that there is quite an explosion of energy during the fast part of this process, and unless this is dispelled we are in danger of becoming tight. If you then do the reverse of the rhythm, you are now playing slowly what you have previously played fast, and so on. These can work! My general feeling is go ahead and use them all for scales and for anything in your pieces where you want toccata-like effects, or where you want to iron out or dull your ear to all the subtleties of timing and inflection that make music beautiful and personal.ДЄ dotted rhythm is playing both slowly and fast in the same passage. I could have gone on, but I spared you:ДonвЂ™t get me wrong. Here is a list of possible rhythmical variants based on divisions of four. Oh, I forgot! Add to that list wearing out the batteries on the metronome by starting the piece at crotchet equals 60 then playing it over again at crotchet equals 62 and so on, until several вЂњproductiveвЂќ hours have elapsedвЂ¦ If you have done an hour of Hanon and then practised your passages in dotted rhythms, you are bound to have practised well! But I often question what, if anything, has been achieved, or if results might be achievable in other ways вЂ“ ways that better engage our critical faculties and leave stronger, more permanent results. There is a sense of achievement possible here, it can be real halo polish. Rather like the ablution ritual of an hour of Hanon exercises, practising using a bunch of different rhythms gives a formulaic, mechanical structure to a practice session that allows both mind and ear a significant tea break while filling in time very nicely. Are there any negative side effects to this? Absolutely, even if this has been done well! Quite possibly so, if this has been done well. This seems to strengthen the fingers, apparently (what does that actually mean?), or it is to do with regrouping the passage вЂ“ the brain sees the patterns slightly differently with each rhythmical variation and when you return to the original, it is easier to play faster, evenly, more accurately and effortlessly. Pianists will claim that by taking a passage written in a constant stream of fast, regular notes and playing it several times, each time using a different rhythmic pattern, they have much more control over the passage mechanically. It can work well when used carefully, but it is not a panacea for all technical problems. This is a tradition that has been passed down from teacher to student for eons. Several of you have contacted me about doing a post on the subject of practising in dotted rhythms, that process where we deliberately and willfully go against the composerвЂ™s express wish for a passage to be played evenly by changing the rhythmic notation for our own devious ends.

Rhythm doctor piano