Teaching rhythm in the western musical tradition is often an ad hoc business. This addresses problems as they arise and hopes that by the time a student gets to professional level, enough rhythm has been learned to be able to work out and play through anything the student comes across.
However, there are ways of being systematic about learning rhythm, and approaching this the same way that arithmetic is taught – in stages. Counting, for instance, can come before adding, which comes before multiplication.
By breaking down the stages and skills encountered at a professional level, we can prepare our students to be able to decode and perform anything that is put in front of them. Here are the main skills, listed in order of how they could be taught:
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