Rhythm Primer Volume Two
Continue developing your rhythm skills with Rhythm Primer Volume Two
Bruce Arnold’s Rhythm Primer Volume Two continues the exercises found in Rhythm Primer but concentrates on exercises in 3/4 and 6/8. Don’t overlook these time signatures! They are two of the most popular time signatures found in contemporary music. There’s a list of some of the songs we’re sure you know that are in 3/4 and 6/8 time further down in this description.
Create a physical reaction from your audience when you begin to play.
If your rhythms are assured and well defined you will find your audience reacting in a physical way when you play music. You just need to hone your rhythmic skills for this to happen. By improving your accuracy and knowledge of rhythms you to can have people practically dancing in the streets.
Don’t let poor rhythm skills hold you back.
If you have worked through Rhythm Primer you know how much change has come over your playing. By continuing your work with Rhythm Primer Volume Two you will develop your skills in two of the most common time signatures in music.
The 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures are cornerstones of contemporary music.
You can practice Rhythm Primer Volume Two in a number of ways:
- Play along with the midi files at various tempos to check accuracy.
- Play along with a metronome. Recommended metronome patterns are found in the book for each section.
- Use MetroDrone® audio files to develop a “Long Line Rhythm” sense with each exercise.
- Play MetroDrone® audio files which form a key center. Play the #5 of the key center through the entire file.
- Play along with the popular tunes listed below.
Direct application of exercises onto real music makes practicing rhythm fun!
- practice the 3/4 exercises with these songs:
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- “Lucky Man” by Emerson Lake Palmer
- “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor
- “Always with You, Always with Me” by Joe Satriani
- “Piano Man” by Billy Joel
- “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson
- “You Light Up My Life” by Joseph Brooks
- “A House With No Curtains” by Alan Jackson
- “Andalusia” by Joe Satriani
- “A Wolf At The Door” by Radiohead
- “Alcohol” by Brad Paisley
- “Alibis” by Tracy Lawrence
- Practice the 6/8 exercises with these songs:
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- “Queen of My Heart” by Westlife
- “A Slow Song” by Joe Jackson
- “All The Things I Hate” by The Poison
- “End Of The Road” by Boyz II Men
- “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston
- “From The Inside” by Linkin Park
- “Always and Forever” by Luther Vandross
- “if You Don’t Know Me by Now” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
- “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal
- “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” by The Beatles
- “You and Me” by Dave Matthews
- “3 Libras” by A Perfect Circle
- “5/4” by Gorillaz
- “7/4 Shoreline” by Broken Social Scene
- “Adiemus” by Adiemus
- “All God’s People” by Queen
- “Cryin'” by AeroSmith
Exploring these tunes listed above via the rhythm exercises will teach you VOLUMES about contemporary music and makes it hard to stop practicing!!
These songs can move you and bring up strong emotions. You will feel and understand these songs’ rhythmic structure and and be able to play them in a very natural way if you work through exercises in these time signatures. You can do all of this with 10 minutes of practicing a day.
Still not sure if Rhythm Primer Volume Two is right for you?
- Ask yourself these questions:<
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- Do I want to understand how contemporary songs are put together rhythmically?
- Do I feel my rhythm is weak when playing chords or trying to groove with other musicians?
- When I have to read music are many of the mistakes I make related to rhythm?
- Do I have a tendency to speed up or slow down when I play or read music?
- Do I lack rhythmic diversity when I’m soloing or writing music?
- When I’m transcribing music do I find it hard to figure out rhythms?
- If someone shows me a rhythm do I have a hard time duplicating it?
- Is it hard for me to translate the rhythms I hear into rhythmic notation?
- Do I have a hard time getting a musical flow happening when I’m playing or improvising?
- Do I know in a general way what rhythm level is being played when I’m listening to or playing music?
Bruce Arnold says that all of these problems can be symptoms of poor rhythmic skills. This can cause you not to perform well, get lost when playing music and not be connected in a meaningful way to the music you are listening to or playing. Every time signature requires a different set of skills.
Each Time Signature is Unique!
Just because you can play in the common time signature of 4/4 doesn’t mean you will easily play 3/4 or 6/8. Rhythm Primer Volume Two is one of the best ways to help you improve these time signatures by playing through exercises that get progressively more difficult. This will help you to:
- Improve Accuracy.
- Develop a larger vocabulary of rhythms so that your aren’t always playing the same few rhythms over and over.
- Naturally hear a variety of rhythms when you are composing.
- Write out the rhythms if you are a composer wishing to publish your music.
- Develop a better interaction with your band members because you are able to react correctly to their rhythmic phrasing.
- Find the rhythms that cause you problems so that you can practice and master them before they spring up in a public situation, or a rehearsal.
Don’t forget Pitch and Rhythm are the two crucial aspects of modern music:
People pick up on rhythmic inaccuracies right away. Don’t let the time signatures of 3/4 and 6/8 get beyond your reach, or create an embarrassing situation where you find out in a very public way that you can’t play these crucial time signatures. Just a few minutes a day can solve this problem and give you the confidence that you can perform well.
If you have basic reading skills the Rhythm Primer Volume Two is the perfect book for you.
If you are just getting started with Rhythm get the Rhythm Primer first but if you know how to read rhythms and just want to hone your skills with the popular time signatures of 3/4 and 6/8 then this book is for you. It provides:
- 61 pages of exercises to develop your 3/4 and 6/8 skills.
- Graduated exercises that increase in difficulty as you go.
- Exercises using just one pitch so you can really concentrate of learning the rhythms
- Downloadable free audio examples of each exercise in the form of midi files. Midi files let you control the tempo of the exercise making it the perfect kind of file to use with these exercises.
Develop your rhythmic skills in a logical way.
Rhythm is commonly organized on four metric levels. It is imperative that you know these levels and the rhythms that are commonly played. Rhythm Primer Volume Two helps you develop this sense by giving you targeted exercises that grow in difficulty so that you can master these rhythms and understand their various idiosyncrasies.
Develop an overall understanding of how rhythm is organized.
Rhythm Primer Volume Two and the whole Rhythm Series of Books (16 books in all) develop your rhythmic skills to a high level. Rhythm Primer Volume Two can be used by anyone who understands how to read basic rhythms. Of course advanced musicians can use it too, because the speed of the exercises will determine the difficulty. You will develop the following strengths by reading through this book:
- The ability to recognize 3/4 and 6/8 rhythms when you hear them or see them written on a page.
- A much more robust vocabulary of rhythms that you naturally play when you are performing music.
- Consistant tempo. No unintentional speeding up or slowing down as you play music with these time signatures.
- An understanding of how music is put together rhythmically.
- Greater speed and accuracy in your playing
- Ability to interact with other musicians in a more meaningful way.
- Ability to learn new music faster.
- Rhythmic accuracy that will have people tapping their feet and dancing when you play.
Remember rhythmic accuracy is the key to getting your audience physically engaged, and totally engrossed in your music.
Our bodies respond to rhythmic accuracy and feel uncomfortable when it’s not there. Rhythm Primer Volume Two and the whole Rhythm series develops this accuracy through targeted exercises. Just a few minutes a day can develop these skills so don’t put it off. Add a 10 minute exercise each day and have people rocking to your music in no time.
Get started with Rhythm Primer Volume Two today and start expressing those rhythms that beat in your heart!
- Additional Information:
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- Digital Edition 978-1-59489-949-2
- 61 pages with additional free midi files available in our member’s area.
- What people are saying:
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- I was a total beginner with rhythm issues and started with Rhythm Primer. I moved on to Rhythm Primer Volume Two last month and at first it was really hard. I was determined to stick it out because there are some “Linkin Park” songs I really want to play that use these time signatures. Bruce recommended I start with something a little easier so I can now strum the chords for “Lucky Man” by Emerson Lake Palmer. Very cool song from the 60’s. That said, I’m continuing on my path and enjoying developing the rhythmic side of my musicianship. E. Myers
- Anyone who knows modern music knows the importance of 3/4 and 6/8. Some classic songs have been written with these time signatures. I’m love Queen’s “All God’s People.” I wanted to totally have the 6/8 time signatures down because my hope was to learn the guitar solo in this tune. Rhythm Primer Volume Two gave me enough exposure to these time signatures that I recently mastered the solo. YES!!! I should also mention that working with this book helped me to understand the difference between something in a triplet feel and playing in 3/4 and 6/8. For instance “A Winter’s Tale” by Queen is in 4/4 with a triplet feel. I should also say I’m grateful for Bruce pointing out these differences in my email correspondence with him. Keep on rocking Bruce! H. Thomson
- OK Garth Brooks is my hero. I’m a country fan in the true sense of the word. Now I realize that 3/4 time signature is so much a part of so many great country tunes. “A New Way to Fly” by Garth Brooks is a tune I wanted to do in my country band but my timing was completely off. I worked through Rhythm Primer and Rhythm Primer Volume Two and guess what? We are performing “A New Way to Fly” next week. Yep 3/4 and 6/8 aren’t any harder than 4/4 once you have worked with them for awhile. Learning how these time signature were written really helped me too because I’m a budding song writer. Maybe some day Garth will sing one of my tunes. I recommend this book highly. A. Rogers.
- I put aside one hour a day to work through these books and it paid off, because I feel like I’ve improved a lot. Bruce Arnold’s “Beat Reading” is the secret weapon, and if you want to chew through music like it’s nothing, then his “Beat Reading” idea, from the Rhythm Primer is the ticket. I got what I wanted out of these books and more. Highly Recommended. T. Camp
Status: In stock, Digital book is available for immediate access.
- Recommended books to use with Rhythm Primer Two
- What should I work on after Rhythm Primer Two?