Want to be a better piano player? Maybe it’s time to improve your sense of rhythm.
To get a true sense of how a composer wrote a song, it’s equally important to pay attention to rhythm and tempo. Yet that’s one of the hardest things for a pianist to learn.
You get stuck in the notes. You practice at your own level, and can lose a sense of how a song is meant to be played. Adding this one piece back into your playing will not only make you a better piano player, but it will give you a better sense of rhythm overall.
Using a metronome
A metronome is a mechanical device you use while you play to establish a musical tempo. You can have a mechanical one sitting nearby, or use an app on your phone. Play around with what’s available and find one to suit your needs.
The key is to use it regularly when you’re first starting a new song to help you develop a stronger sense of how the music should be played. Decrease your usage of it over time as you begin to build your own rhythm and how it should be played.
Adding rhythm into your practice
It’s easy to get addicted to outside influences. If you automatically turn on a metronome at the beginning of each session, you won’t develop your own sense of rhythm. This comes naturally over time. Composers suggest specific tempos based on the way they write music. It’s how they intended a song to be played.
For a pianist, that’s a good starting point. It takes time and patience to get into a song. But as you learn to feel your inner voice, you’ll also feel the rhythm and interpret it in your unique manner. Trust it. Move with it. This allows you to add your own spin to the tune.
You can also use a metronome to work out inconsistencies within a piece of music. Can you play one section well? Having trouble with another? A metronome can give you the steady beat to catch up in tougher places where you have trouble. It can build the rhythm stronger for your inner voice.
Piano playing is never just about the notes. Developing a sense of rhythm gives you even more strength in the way you play. It allows you to feel how a song is meant to be played, and add your own spin to the tune.
It can allow you to be the best piano player you can be.
