Quick question: In an Irish polka and Scots Strathspey what note is the best note to drop in oder to take a breath? Does anyone have any hints for dropping notes. I found that if I cover the note up with a small peice of paper it is easier for me to drop that note. Well, I am curious to know what people think!
[ This Message was edited by: LKtz on 2001-07-21 21:16 ]
I don’t think I generally ‘drop’ notes. It’s more like stealing a bit of the “length” or “duration” from a note to give you a chance to draw breath.
I ususally don’t think about where to breathe, I just do it. But every now and again you hit a tune which doesn’t seem to have anywhere to breath and you have to analyse things a bit. Here’s two suggestions on finding where to breath.
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listen to the tune being played and try to work out a few spots where there’s not much happening. Some notes in each phrase really jump out at you and give the tune it’s character, while others just move you between those defining notes. Avoid the defining notes when finding somewhere to breath if you want to ‘hide’ your breath.
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This is contradictory to the first suggestion. Sometimes you can give a tune a lovely swing by missing or dramatically delaying a strong defining note. The listener will “hear” the note in their head automatically allowing you to miss it out or shorten it while breathing. This is not hiding your breath but using it to dramatic effect.