Rhythmic Variations¶
Summary: Play a section with varying rhythms. For straight 8ths or 16ths, play with dotted rhythms (slow-fast and fast-slow), and vice-versa. ☆☆☆☆☆
Practicing a passage with different rhythmic variations can help you break through speed barriers, uncover weaknesses, and smooth out your playing. It works for beginners and advanced players.
Note
If you’re not sure how to read rhythmic notation, see Rhythmic Notation.
For example, take this scalar lick, strictly alternate picked, which you’re aiming to play at 170 bpm:
120 bpm
170 bpm
For this technique, play this lick with dotted rhythms instead of straight sixteenths. For example, here’s the first 8 notes of the lick, with dotted notes to make the rhythm “slow-fast”:
Dotted, slow-fast
You can, and should, also play it with the dot on the other note, to make the rhythm “fast-slow”:
Dotted, fast-slow
Sometimes the “fast-slow” rhythm can be hard to maintain, in which case you can just offset the beat as shown below. Note that the lead-in note is still done with a down stroke:
Dotted, fast-slow
Why this works¶
Rhythmic variations are a super technique for several reasons:
When playing fast passages, there are many things going on - your fingers, hands, and mind are all working hard. If any one one of them tense up or stumble, things fall apart. The long note gives your mind and body time to think about and prepare for the next note.
The short break afforded by the longer dotted note gives you time to release any accumulated tension.
You can try pushing faster! Check out the three rhythmic variations of the same lick below:
Three variations
The first variation is one beat (four 16ths), but the last two are both 2 beats, so the last two are “slower” … however, the second and fourth notes of all of these variations are still 16th notes, and are just as fast as the first variation. For these fast notes, you will still have to make the same motions in the same length of time as you would for the initial straight-16ths version, but your hands and brain will have a lot of time to rest and prepare. Because of this, you can push your practice tempo even higher, and get a workout of these very short bursts of speed.
You can also try lengthening the long note even further, if it helps:
Dotted, extra-slow-fast
Dotted, fast-extra-slow
The key is consistency and accuracy of the rhythm. Keep the notes clearly defined and articulated!
If you stay focused and loose, you may find that you can play the same lick with dotted rhythms at much higher tempos than you would for straight 16ths, while still being accurate with the fast sixteenth notes. When you return to straight 16ths at lower tempos, it will be easier.
The most important thing to watch for when doing rhythmic variation work is to make sure you practice the mirror variation. This means that you do not just do fast-slow, you must also do slow-fast. And if you use a more complex rhythm (which I encourage you to do). Like slow-slow-fast, then make sure you go through slow-fast-slow and fast-fast-slow as well. bernhard, pianostreet.com