Rhythmic Training for Dancers (Book with CD-ROM)

by Kaplan, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780736037808
• ISBN10: 0736037802
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Human Kinetics

Summary

If you want to improve your students' ability to learn movement combinations, teach dance, and create choreography, then help them get in touch with the musicality in their movements with >Rhythmic Training for Dancers.>>Rhythmic Training for Dancers> and its companion CD-ROM, >An Interactive Guide to Music for Dancers,> help dancers develop a better understanding of musical time and phrasing, which directly correspond with their dance activities. These materials provide an interdisciplinary approach that bridges the perceptual barrier between dancers and musicians by explaining concepts from both perspectives. Students will--learn basic concepts of musical time as they apply to dance technique and choreography,-become aware of how they intuitively use musical time in their dancing, and-explore rhythmic theory from the musician's perspective.The book follows a step-by-step approach, introducing only a few concepts at a time so that students will comprehend the material. Special exercises are grouped within six categories of study designed to reveal the musicality inherent in movement and the kinetics of rhythm: aural skills, rhythm activities, vocal training, notation, dance technique class and pedagogy, and choreography.The book also includes material that course instructors can use to incorporate vocal and body percussion exercises throughout the course. In these exercises, each student-whether a musician or nonmusician-becomes an active performer in a vocal and body percussion ensemble, exploring expressive soundscapes, aural textures, and rhythm. The exercises illustrate the concepts presented in the book. Plus, students can mix and match the exercises to create longer combinations or performance structures.Additional student-friendly features include the following:--Opening quotes from students highlight the concepts covered in each chapter.-Relevant concepts, vocabulary, and symbols are listed at the beginning of each chapter.-A running glossary appears in the margins throughout each chapter.-"Apply Your Knowledge" headings tell readers what they will learn when they complete an exercise or activity.-Assessment worksheets help readers test their knowledge.-Rhythmic applications pose real-world problems to solve through movement.-CD-ROM boxes throughout the text direct readers to specific sections of the accompanying CD-ROM for further learning and to enhance information in the textbook.-Discussion questions at the end of parts I and II present actual students' questions, organized by topic.>Rhythmic Training for Dancers> isn't just theory-it's about how to apply the basic skills and principles of rhythmic musicianship to dance. This text and CD-ROM package will benefit any person who wants to gain a better understanding of the language of music, the kinetics of rhythm, and the poetics of sound.Accompanying CD-ROM brings concepts to life>An Interactive Guide to Music for Dancers> is a companion CD-ROM that makes it even easier for students to understand the concepts presented in >Rhythmic Training for Dancers.> Engaging and informative, the CD-ROM explores the multifaceted links between the worlds of music and movement. Students can listen to more than 300 audio samples and view 80 video clips that illustrate specific concepts presented in the book.The CD-ROM is organized in three different sections:-A Dancer's View,presents video samples of dance technique class combinations.-A Musician's View,explores rhythm and meter through audio and video samples.-Practice,presents three self-paced, interactive drills to help students recognize how to divide time by sound; how to convey rhythm, tempo, phrasing, and meter without using words; and how to create musical phrases vocally.Throughout the program the user may click on highlighted words and INFO buttons that link to supplemental audio or visual information.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
From a Dancer's Viewpoint	p. 1
Musical Time: The Beat	p. 3
The Beat	p. 5
Making the Connection	p. 9
Dividing Counts Qualitatively	p. 12
Speak/Singing	p. 13
Practice Methods	p. 16
Summary	p. 17
Exercises and Worksheet	p. 17
Phrasing	p. 27
Elements of Phrasing	p. 28
The 8-Count Phrase and Beyond	p. 29
Duple: Twos and Fours	p. 32
Threes	p. 34
Sixes	p. 36
Fives, Sevens, and Mixed Meters	p. 36
Anacrusis	p. 38
Breath Rhythms	p. 39
Summary	p. 40
Worksheet	p. 41
Discussion Questions for Part I	p. 43
From a Musician's Viewpoint	p. 47
Organization of Musical Time	p. 49
Metric Accents	p. 50
Conducting Metric Patterns	p. 52
Music Notation	p. 54
Syncopation	p. 59
Summary	p. 61
Exercises and Worksheets	p. 61
Time Signatures	p. 71
Time Signatures	p. 72
Formula for Reading Time Signatures: Simple Meters	p. 72
Notation, Metric Accents, and Time Signature	p. 73
Kinesthetics of Simple Duple Time	p. 75
Kinesthetics of Simple Triple Time	p. 78
Asymmetrical Meter	p. 79
Summary	p. 80
Worksheets	p. 81
Extending Time and Further Rhythmic Manipulation	p. 87
Tie	p. 88
Augmentation Dot	p. 89
Fermata	p. 89
Sounding Three Quarters of a Beat	p. 90
Triplets	p. 91
Performance of Triplets	p. 94
Approaching the Score	p. 96
Use of Rests	p. 97
Dynamics and Articulation	p. 99
Motivic Manipulation	p. 101
Summary	p. 102
Exercises and Worksheets	p. 103
Compound Time	p. 123
Compound Time Signatures	p. 124
Duplets	p. 126
Conducting Patterns and Time Signatures	p. 127
Kinesthetics of Compound Meter	p. 129
Visual Clarification of the Beat	p. 130
Rhythmic "Homonyms"	p. 132
Relationship Between Meter and Tempo (Advanced)	p. 134
Summary	p. 135
Exercises and Worksheets	p. 137
Triple Meters	p. 151
Triple Groupings of Counts	p. 152
More Kinesthetic Differences	p. 154
Hemiola	p. 155
Summary	p. 155
Polyrhythm and Polymeter	p. 157
Polyrhythm	p. 158
Polymeter	p. 161
"Turnaround" in an Irregular Meter	p. 162
Mixed Meter	p. 164
Indiscernible Meter, Breath Rhythm, and Nonmetered Music	p. 166
Summary	p. 167
Exercises	p. 168
Discussion Questions for Part II	p. 179
Common Ground	p. 183
Natural Sound	p. 185
Environment	p. 186
Warming Up	p. 187
Vocabulary	p. 188
Simple Forms: Passing	p. 190
Rhythm Chant	p. 190
Exercises	p. 190
Body Percussion	p. 197
Notation of Body Percussion	p. 198
Exercises	p. 201
Appendix
Tempo Markings	p. 205
Dynamic and Articulation Markings	p. 207
Drawing Notes and Rests	p. 209
CD-ROM General Instructions	p. 210
Aural Quiz I	p. 212
Aural Quiz II	p. 213
Checklist for Observation	p. 214
Self-Assessments	p. 215
Clap and Stamp Drills	p. 218
Full Example of Counterpoint Quartets	p. 237
CD-ROM Music Credits	p. 241
Glossary	p. 243
Index	p. 249
About the Author	p. 255
CD-ROM Install Instructions	p. 256
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