When I play things which I feel have "simple rhythm"- namely things which are divided only into 8th notes, quarter notes, half notes, and the occassional dotted note, I can play in time fairly consistently- my mind seems to divide notes into intervals of quarter notes (as in I think of an 8th as half a quarter, or a dotted half note as three quarters);I know, most people seem to divide things into 8ths.

I can also, as most people, play something with complex rhythms if I have heard it (so apparently, I am matching the note lengths to the version of it in my head, not rhythm notated on the page)

The problem comes, as you could imagine, when I need to play something I consider to have extremely complex rhythms, with notations of longer notes being written in such patterns as a half tied to a dotted sixteenth (a 19 thirty-seconds note, lol). Now my mind cannot yet wrap arround precesion like this, so when notes like this come up, I struggle to get their exact length right, which probably causes fluctuations in the tempo.

Furthermore, When I need to play a sequence like, 16, 8th, 8th, 32nd, 16th, 8th, 32nd, 16th, I can't really time what a 32nd note is, and I just play it as the shortest possible thing I can play before changing tone, and beyond this, since this technique affects timing, it really throws off tempo.If I listen to the above sequence, and then play it, I can manage, but playing it from straight notation never having heard it is challenging.

Does what I am saying sound normal to most of you? Is there a special technique for playing notes of very short intervals (32nds), or notes which are modified by notes of small interval (the half with a dotted 16th I mentioned)? Is there just a systematic thing I am doing wrong?

Thanks

I have that same problem.

It's is all just subdividing.
I do not think you are doing anything 'wrong' you are just not going full circle.

When I see this type of issue with my students I find that mostly they are thinking 16th and 32nd notes are FAST!! Well, yes they can be but two 8th notes = a quarter. Two 16th notes equal an 8th. Two 32nds = a 16th.

My suggestion is you go back and relearn or retrain your brain thinking process. Do this 3 step exercise.
Step one :
Take out your music, find the shortest note duration. If it is 16th notes, then start at the begining of the piece and play constant 16th notes. So, if the piece starts out quarter, quarter, 8th, 8th, 16th, 16th. You will play 4 16ths for the first note and second note, 2 16ths for the 8ths, and of course 16ths for each 16th.

Step two:
Again play the piece playing constant 16ths notes. But htis time accent the beging of the written notes.

Step three:
Play the piece feeling the 16th notes, but play the notes as written. You should feel the 16th notes somewher ein your body (don't beat your foot though).

Give it a try.

Thanks a bundle- this is a simple solution, but also quite novel- I suspect it will work.

It will! this is a great way of doing it! i do it this way sometimes and then it just makes sense. and yes, don't tap your foot, it really messes with your head somehow!

Subdivide, subdivide, subdivide. I often find, when playing even simple offbeats, that I cannot get the rythm- thankfully, it is a simple matter of counting. Take the time to read a piece and count the rythms out, even clap them unless you are in judgemental company. learn the rythms and hear them in your ear before you play them, you can even write them out on your music (unless, of course, you desdperately need to pay attention to the notes). Your sense of where things are in the beat will improve. I cannot stress enough the importance of counting out the rythms. Tap your foot. feel the downbeat.

Then again, I am a band geek, so maybe you shouldn't tap your foot... but, what's wrong with it? I've never figured that out, and it's always improved my rythm.

I see what you mean, it looks aweful- but about tapping your foot out of time, you are really tapping it in time, just not on the downbeat. This is more common in jazz and modern music, I suppose, but I guess I'd better stop.

Hello!
I also have the same problem but I believe it's overwhelmed when you study really slow in quarters. At the beginning I was also dividing the notes as recommended earlier but then 2 problems occured: first of all you get used to it and then you can't study in quarters and secondly when the rythm gets too fast it will be difficult to hear and play.

I know this might not appeal to all but... when I have a problem with "complex" rhythms I look up the piece on YouTube. Ok I'm in a hurry and I'm lazy.... find the best rendition of it and listen a few times and then back to the page...