Music is Between the Beats

If we listen to a piece of music, where does the music actually exist? If we think of the beat as home, it's not as exciting as those awesome vacation spots we visit. Those vacation spots between the beats are where all of the excitement and beauty of music lives.

This is very clear is SLOW music (I can hear all of my students groaning). As musicians, we are responsible for keeping the SUBDIVISION of the pulse. So if we are playing in 4/4 time, the beat is counted 1 2 3 4. Keeping the subdivision means that we are constantly thinking/feeling this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +. The subdivision is crucial during slow music so that we make what we are playing clear.

In general, we think of fast music being fun and exciting, while slow music is long and emotional. In a piece of music with both (for example, Heartland Overture or Crystal City Overture), the band will often enjoy playing the fast section more than the slow section because the fast section is more "fun." We should think of the slow section as fun too, and here's why:

When we play fast, we just play the notes. Sometimes we put dynamics in to make it a little more interesting. Usually though, fast music plays itself. It doesn't take a whole lot of musical input for us to make it sound good. The slow stuff takes much more musical input. This is why it should be just as fun! We can use our own creativity to make the music more interesting! The composer left it up to the musicians to make his or her music beautiful. We should do that by paying attention to the MUSIC BETWEEN THE BEATS. Try it next rehearsal. You might end up liking that boring slow section.