Expanding on Rhythm Variations in Practice

Do you practice anymore than what’s just on the page?

I’ve mentioned before about using different rhythms to practice in my YouTube videos, but I think it’s also important to empower intermediate students with a variety of exercises that increase the fluidity of their playing.  This post is meant to better illuminate this and emphasize the importance.

You’ve got a few different options for a running passage in repertoire.  My two favorites are long + short/ short + long, and counting in a given interval.  Say you’ve got a passage with eight 8th notes.

If you try the long + short route, it’ll look something like this:

…and vice versa for the short + long route.

Exercises like these are great for making sure each note is clearly heard in the phrase, especially if you have to play on weaker fingers (like 4 and 5).  Additionally, you can try counting in a given interval.  This one’s a bit trickier to show with notation, but say you want to play in groups of 3; in that case, you’ll play the first 2 notes as quickly as possible, then hold on the 3rd note.  Rinse and repeat.

Have you used exercises like these in practice?  If so, what number of notes do you typically count in: 3? 4? 5?