It is not enough to just teach a technique. A student needs a high quality exercise to keep on practicing and perfecting the technique. In this second of four videos, I teach an exercise and explain why I think it is a high quality exercise. I also introduce you to my main tap teacher, Stan Kahn, complete with some very cool old photos!
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Next video on Understanding Music coming in two days!
Bravo, Steve! Great drill. I like to create these kinds of drills and cut the class in half. One half starts the drill on the 1st bar and the other half starts the drill on the 2nd bar. I tell students to listen and watch “across the aisle” to see how 1/8 notes relate to 1/16 notes (the fast inside the slow / the slow inside the fast). And if things get messy “sounds like marbles dropping from the ceiling and bouncing everywhere chaotically”, then another group holds the 1/4 notes with plain steps. 🙂
Bonus, at the :52 mark I spied the black board behind Stan Kahn with his “Kahnotation”. I learned about Kahnotation from Sam Weber 🙂 Then I developed my own child-friendly iconic tap language using simple shapes to stand in for shuffles, steps, digs, hops, etc. I noticed how quickly children grabbed onto my iconic tap language, how I could give them homework to read and practice at home, and how the children could also choreograph and notate their own dances 🙂
Hi, Susan, I like that approach that you use, doing a phased polyrhythm moment with your students. Great for ear training, listening to others. Sounds nice. And, yes, Kahnotation on the blackboard! I use it for myself but tend not to teach it for some reason. . . It is such an smart system and so easy to use once you grasp a handful of basic symbols. Talk to you again soon! Steve