Integrated Practice Coordination, Rhythm & Sound

by de Alcantara, Pedro

• ISBN13: 9780195317084
• ISBN10: 0195317084
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

To be a musician is to "speak music." When you have something to say and you know how to say it, your gestures and sounds become both expressive and free. Offering an innovative, comprehensive approach to musicians' health and wellbeing, INTEGRATED PRACTICE gives you the tools to combine total-body awareness with a deep and practical understanding of the rhythmic structure of the musical language, so that you can "speak music" fluently, healthfully, and effectively. The key to mastering the language of music is rhythm. INTEGRATED PRACTICE contains an in-depth study of rhythm in music and in coordination, with dozens of exercises to help you infuse your gestures and musical phrases with rhythmic energy. The balance between structure and inventiveness is also essential to your wellbeing. Music is based on predictable grids of chords, scales, and time signatures, and yet your music-making ought to be unpredictable and fluid. INTEGRATED PRACTICE shows you how to establish an imaginative dialogue between the relatively inflexible structure of music and your own individual style as a singer, instrumentalist, or conductor. INTEGRATED PRACTICE covers the harmonic series in detail and includes novel approaches to improvisation, with exercises that you can apply to daily practice, rehearsing, and performing across the entire repertory. An extensive dedicated website with dozens of video and audio clips demonstrate the book's exercises.

Author Biography

Pedro de Alcantara is a musician, writer, and teacher. His books include Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique, The Alexander Technique: A Skill for Life, and the children's novels Befiddled and Backtracked. He lives in Paris and New York, and he travels the world giving seminars and master classes.

Table of Contents

A Companion Website	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Rhythm
Words, Sounds, Gestures	p. 9
Prosody, or the Secrets of Rhythm	p. 19
The Grid: A Life Principle	p. 37
The Metric Grid	p. 47
Coincidence: Intention and Gesture	p. 65
Rhythmic Solfége	p. 68
The Metronome and the Rubato	p. 77
Superbar Structures	p. 87
Opposing the Grid	p. 98
Patterning and Sequencing	p. 115
Coordination
Connection and Flow: First Principles	p. 137
The Juggler: A Cello Lesson	p. 145
Object Wisdom: An Oboe Lesson	p. 158
Body, Breath, Vibration, Text: A Voice Lesson	p. 176
The Quadrupedal Prosodist: A Piano Lesson	p. 187
Sound
The Harmonic Series	p. 201
The Harmonic Series and the Voice	p. 215
The Messa di Voce: Virtuosity of Contact	p. 225
Practicing the Messa di Voce	p. 234
Improvisation: A Lifestyle	p. 245
Conclusion	p. 259
Appendix: An Overview of the Exercises	p. 263
Notes	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 275
Index	p. 277
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