Rachel, eight-year
old student of
Lydia McVay, Glenside, PA
2.1MB, QuickTime movie file
Jimmy, six-year old
student of
Bruce Berr, Glenview, IL
2.5 MB, QuickTime movie file
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Context from the print article . . .
Feeling the hypermeter
Being alertly balanced - feeling mobile - enjoying the freedom to play out with a full tone - all of this allows other aspects of growth in rhythm to happen naturally during a student's early years of study. Nothing thrills me more than seeing one of my students gently swaying from side to side while playing a finished piece with ease and accuracy. The student is feeling the hypermeter - the slower overarching meter whose "beats" span a measure or more, and is perceptible in all music. We commonly see groups of people feeling the hypermeter when they sing together in informal settings, or in choirs that encourage unfettered group movements. When piano students feel the hypermeter, it's good news because it means they are experiencing the larger flow of the music. Then other things can and do happen naturally, such as phrase direction and shaping, breathing between gestures, etc. The sound becomes more horizontal - what we instantly recognize as being more musical. Technique plays a vital role in all of this, but technique can't force it to happen. As also described above, technique doesn't create it, it allows for it to take place. Therefore, feeling the hypermeter does not necessarily need to be addressed with each elementary student if the person's technique has been grown to include physical balance, mobility, solid tone quality, and the self-confidence which results from all of this.
Here are very brief video clips of two young students feeling the hypermeter while playing. Both of these segments are taken from longer excerpts that were shown at MTNA Pedagogy Saturday's 2003 program in Salt Lake City, Utah, "The Magic of Motivation."
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Rachel, eight-year
old student of |
Jimmy, six-year old
student of |
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