I've played guitar for over 35 years now, but I always struggled with syncopated rhythms and it really limited me. In the past few years I've begun to understand how it's likely related to my ADHD, specifically to timing deficits in my brain. I am learning piano now with an experienced teacher with whom I've collaborated to come up with strategies and tactics for my brain to learn this ability.
I used the Kodaly method and it helped. I also began really slowing down some rhythms... as my natural tendency is always to speed up because when I slow the music down it's harder to feel it. I have tried a number of counting approaches. I learned to read and annotate music to help give me points of reference. I work on other things too... not just rhythm... but I chip away at it a bit each year.
So for the past few months I took a bunch of standard time rhythms from famous songs I like and wrote them down. I modified the chord progression to make it really easy to play. What I also did was play on each division (1,2,3,4) with my left hand, while I played the syncopated chord progression on my right. This went really wheel. It was like training wheels. I also experimented a bit with only playing the left on the 1 and 3 and this was doable as well. I could even tap my foot while I play, because my left hand is in sync with my foot.
The tough part has been once I now only play on the first beat. One of the rhythms is from the song Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. Here is the 4 bar rhythm for that song for reference (the bolded divisions are the ones to play):
1 e and a | 2 e and a | 3 e and a | 4 e and a
1 e and a | 2 e and a | 3 e and a | 4 e and a
1 e and a | 2 e and a | 3 e and a | 4 e and a
1 e and a | 2 e and a | 3 e and a | 4 e and a
This has been very difficult especially in bars 2 and 3 because I only play on the first division and everything else is syncopated. Fortunately, I have been able to do it using a very loud metronome to help me track the beat. I can even do it now at approximately the tempo of the song (124 bpm) and I can play along with the recording.
But I am relying massively on my ears to track the beat. When I try to track the beat with my foot my body almost wants to thrash as if it's just too many things to keep track of. But every music tutorial (especially a good one from Adam Neely I recall) really talked about how feeling the beat is everything if you want to own the rhythm. This is really my goal and to feel the rhythm I really need to tap it with my foot or somehow rock my body with the rhythm.
I am pretty sure I am going to be able to do if I slow it down to around 60 bpm (this seems to be the rhythm at which my body seems to be able to track comfortably). But as I speed up, I am lost without a metronome. And while I can play along and stay in time pretty well, I know I don't own it to the point where I can become the metronome.
So I am looking for tips on how to tackle this challenge including what tactics work best - like should I give up on trying to tap my foot on each division if I am above 100 bpm or so, and should I just tap on the 1 and 3 instead in those cases.
I appreciate any guidance that helps. Thanks.
Submitted March 15, 2024 at 09:54PM by thinkfast37 https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/1bfto6v/tracking_the_beat_and_learning_syncopated_rhythms/?utm_source=ifttt