Teaching children that rhythm is about reliable downbeats is heading
them straight on a path to utter disillusionment if not terminal
boredom. I have reached that blessed state in life where I can call it
as I hear it; two recognizably similar downbeats in a row will surely
put me to sleep.
Let me out of here!
When I am playing and fall into that trap I know that I am not paying sufficient attention. It is a wake-up call, every time.
So why do music teachers insist on imparting this regularity as if it is an immutable rule?
I
refuse to believe that children are inherently so ill coordinated that
they need to be treated as incapable of subtlety. I encourage my
students to feel offbeats, to respond flexibly to irregular groupings.
They have so much more fun, and so do I.
