Singers and rhythm don’t really seem to go hand in hand sometimes if you know what I mean, that doesn’t have to be the case though. Rhythm isn’t an enigma and understanding it isn’t that hard either.
Singers can improve their rhythm by practicing it in various ways. Primarily starting with the knowledge and understanding of how rhythm actually works and secondly by practicing rhythm through an instrument that solely depends upon it. Indulging in the studies of rhythm in this manner will make sure you understand it.
There is a lot to be said about how singers can start to perceive rhythm but in order for us to begin taking steps towards it we must start with the conviction that singers can indeed improve their rhythm through practice. So that is where we will first begin.
Practice
Obviously, when you are first trying to practice and get the hang of it, the only thing singers have to keep in mind is that they’re willing to improve, without the conviction practicing doesn’t make much sense.
The only way to improve is through practice.
Practice is something every musician has to do in order to improve a skill. Very little depends on talent.
One of the things that plague singers are, hyper-focusing on melody and melody alone. Singers end up creating a sense of melody quite strongly. Which is good but not for the long run.
But that in turn doesn’t allow singers to focus on rhythm and practice them on a level that allows them to become masters of it. Mastering rhythm is just as important for singers as it is for any other musician.
Practice needs to happen on a level that doesn’t just make you aware of what you’re doing but also makes you internalize and understand what you’re doing and also what you’re working towards.
This is important because time is indeed limited and when you’re working on something you want to make the best out of the future practice sessions because that makes you feel like you’re working towards something and it was indeed productive to sit through that practice session.
So, practice is definitely the end goal that we should strive for in order to improve our rhythm.
Understanding Rhythm
Now, before I tell you what you can do to improve your rhythm, we need to understand it.
By ‘understanding’ I mean understanding rhythm in a general sense. When you listen to a piece of music and you’re able to discern what kind of rhythm is being played out.
As you give it more and more time and practice it daily, the easier this will become and you don’t have to take it to a level where you ought to recognize a highly complex meter in your first listen but it would still help to practice it on a daily routine to see steady gains.
Just like anything else rhythm needs to be studied a little bit before you can jump into other more complex parts of it. By that, I mean asking yourself if you understand simple or complex meter can you read rhythm? or music? And how one-time signature is different from the other?
Essentially, the basics of music theory. Your life as a musician would be amiss if you did not have music theory to rely on. The reason I am an advocate of learning music theory is that once understood, you are able to use the knowledge of reading rhythm and time signatures and practice super effectively towards improving your rhythm.
Once you have understood how to read rhythm or if you already know this is something that you can do now.
Reading Rhythm
You can find music and even drum tracks completely written out in sheet music, it could be songs or it could be particular drum exercises and all you have to do is now listen to what is being played and how it’s written out.
Of course, when you’re first starting out keep it simple and try to focus on one sound at a time as it can get complicated with drums really fast. But listening to the subdivisions and how the drummer is playing them is going to allow you to hear, read and understand how the rhythm being played is written out.
Eventually, with practice, you will start to predict the music that is written and be able to anticipate its arrival. Doing this is going to allow you to kick-start your rhythmic progress. Start with simple songs or exercises and gradually make them tougher.
One of the things that we need to understand is that rhythm is always present even if there are no percussion instruments playing.
Practicing rhythm is going to allow you to look at everything as rhythm and separate that part of something and see things as parts of a bigger whole.
Picking Up Another Instrument
Going ahead with learning how to become a master of rhythm doesn’t have to stop with you focusing on just reading music and rhythm all the time.
You can do that by also picking up another instrument. The article linked here is meant for you to read if you’ve ever shown interest in learning another instrument and have wondered if it’ll help you get better.
But you can pick up an instrument like drums but anything that hangs and relies on rhythm to be effective will do and will help you tremendously to improve your rhythm.
The reason this is effective is that you are being put in another musician’s shoes and going through the same cycles of practice and repetition that allow them to be good at their instrument.
You don’t want to reach a level where you’re a professional but you sound like an amateur when it comes to the rhythm or anything else that you do in music. So, not too much but neither too little. Right to the point where you think you’ve mastered the basics and then some.
That’s a great position to be in (to begin with). Because you will no longer see rhythm from the perspective of just being a singer who is reading rhythm from sheet music but from the perspective of someone who is listening and doing it from the perspective of someone who is a percussionist.
Your rhythm has no chance but to improve.
Listen to Drums
When you listen to drums it provides you with a perspective on how they actually work. When you do listen to drums, you’ll realize that drums can be played very intricately and the care drummers give to ghost notes and how well they are able to subdivide time, even though I may not be able to perform it (they’re very hard), exposure to listening to just drums allows me to just enjoy listening to rhythmic instruments.
Which is essentially exposure and something we should all be looking forward to.
Master The Metronome
One of the techniques that I used to teach my students when they first came to me was mastering the downbeat (first beat) of the metronome.
The way you do it is pretty simple.
You clap on the first beat of the metronome. If you don’t clap at the same time as the downbeat you’ll hear both the sounds, of you clapping and the ‘click’ of the metronome.
However, when you do finally clap on time with the metronome. The metronome’s click will disappear completely. Meaning you’ve successfully done it once.
Anyone can pick it up. You don’t even need to know music theory for this but this is just a beginner’s idea on getting accurate with time, eventually, you will have to shift towards something more challenging.
Dancing
Don’t dismiss dancing as a way to improve your rhythm.
It’s an art form just as old as music itself. If you’ve not moved your body to a rhythm, I suggest that you start doing it immediately or go join the near dance classes.
The sense of time and rhythm that you can develop through dancing is very different from anything else. Albeit not necessary, it is something that can help you.
So, if you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to be a dancer and how one may sway to a particular type of rhythm then picking up a certain genre of dancing will help you tremendously.
Understanding Melody
Now we come back to singing altogether.
I said at the beginning of the article that singers have a sense for melody and that is still true the only thing is that if you dedicate yourself to the study of rhythm you will actually find that melody can’t exist without rhythm.
The more you practice your rhythm the more you’ll be able to understand not just how melody works but also how you can use your newfound rhythm skills to create and even alter existing melodies to your needs whether they may come in the form of composing or arranging.
You’re going to not just be able to look at melody not just by the notes that are being played but also when they are being played. That’s a skill you should definitely strive to have.
Know Your End Goal
If you don’t know where you are headed I don’t think this is going to work very well because I humbly believe practice without an end goal is senseless.
What are you working towards? What kind of singer do you want to be? Do you wish to practice all the days of your life?
I know about courses that I promote on this website for you to join and learn everything that you could possibly know about singing. You can check those out here.
The expression of living with music doesn’t come from practicing it but from living it through the skills you’ve acquired so you can perform or compose.
To that end, I ask you this, rhythm is important but to what end does it make sense for you to master it? Are you going to stick with pop and rock? Then it’s going to be easy but if you want to take it to the level of experimental Djent and other progressive and rhythmically difficult genres then you ought to think twice about it.
The best part is that you can always come back to improve your skill in rhythm or otherwise.