A postscript to last week's article about counting ...

Here's a story to illustrate a creative strategy for keeping your place in the music.

"For the Future" is one of the songs I performed with the Binkley Baptist Church choir last Sunday from Malcolm Dalglish's Hymnody of Earth. It's a round that keeps coming back around with the dulcimer part repeated six times. It's a fun piece. The dulcimer part is plucked and consists of a D pattern repeated four times, a G pattern repeated three times, then one A pattern that moves back to the beginning.

• The first time through the dulcimer plays an intro, alone.
• The second time the first round of voices begin, in unison.
• The third time the round begins, with all voices joining in at designated times.
• The fourth, fifth, sixth times voices are weaving in and out. Lovely!
• Tags and retard at the end.

Here's the trick: (Pay attention, now! If you ever play this you'll want to know.) When the round begins during the third time through, the dulcimer must play the D pattern five times!

In my practice everything was working out pretty well the first three times through ... up to and through the point where the round began. I could successfully play the intro alone, then with voices in unison, then the odd part when the round began. After that I knew I had three more times to the end, but I was having a hard time counting to 3! There were too many things being counted at the same time and "1 - 2 - 3" just wasn't getting it. Then I came up with this bright idea ... I named each part after one of my children.

I would think of Noah while playing Round 4. Abi was on my mind during Round 5. When I got to Round 6 and envisioned Andrew I knew I was finished. Ha, ha! It worked!

Plucking "For the Future" with Binkley Baptist Church choir

What creative strategies have you used successfully to keep your place in the music?

Having Trouble Counting to 'Two'?

There's so much counting required in playing music! How many beats in a measure? How many measures in a part? How many parts in a tune? How many times do you have to play each part? How do I keep up with all of this? 

Certain types of music do have a regular structure, particularly music written for dancing. Much of the traditional dance music played on the hammered dulcimer follows an AABB structure, where each letter represents a separate 8-measure part. The written music typically shows Part A written with a repeat, then Part B written with a repeat. So, the A Part is played twice (8 bars + 8 bars), then the B Part is played twice (8 bars + 8 bars), for a total of 32 measures.

If you play for set dances ... contra dances, for example ... the dance movements are designed to fit the music and vice versa. You may hear a piece of music being referred to as "crooked". That means it doesn't fit the standard 32 measure form, and that piece of music would not be welcome in the dance hall! If you're playing the music and want to ruin a good dance, skip an A or B part. You won't be asked back.

There is a typical structure that exists within the AABB form that may be considered in two-measure units. Call - Response - Call - Different Response , where the "call" is exactly the same phrase. Additionally, sometimes the end of the B part is exactly the same as the end of the A part. All this repetition comes in handy when learning a piece of music, but the more repetitive the phrases, the more confusing it can get. It is not uncommon for musicians to get lost in a piece of music. Suddenly it's unclear ... am I playing A1 or A2?!

I have to admit, I sometimes have difficulty counting to two!

What to do?

It starts with PRACTICE
Some of my students are in the habit of NOT playing the repeats in a piece of music. This is a bad habit. Tunes contain multiple cues within the phrasing that help us keep our place. By playing in improper form you are training your ear to hear the tune improperly and training your brain and hands to play the tune improperly. Always practice a tune in the proper form.

Create a DIFFERENCE
Especially in highly repetitive tunes, use arranging ideas to create something different in a tune that will help you keep your place. Settle on a plan that you like then habitually play it that way. For example:

• Always play the first ending of a part one way, the second ending a different way
• Play one part in one octave, more to another octave for the repeating part
• Embellish a phrase in one part, use a variation in the other

Nothing beats FOCUS

You must be 'in the moment' to successfully play music. Keep your thoughts on what you're doing. This is often easier said than done, but it does get better with practice!