Customer Reviews

A Rhythmic Vocabulary: A Musician's Guide to Understanding and Improvising with Rhythm

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I think rhythm study is highly neglected in modern western music education, I studied piano for many years and of course you have to learn how to read rhythmic notation to be able to read music but there was no study of rhythm itself in all my studies. I felt a need to learn more about rhythm and I started to play the djembe and I certainly do not regret it, for apart from learning to play the djembe I have become a better pianist. This book is great to begin rhythm studies, I wish I had had this book many years ago, I highly recomend it for all musicians regardless of instrument because there is more to music than just melody and harmony, you have to have a good understanding of rhythm also.

But I want more,there are available tons of thick books about harmony but hardly anything about rhythm so I hope the author writes another book.

(I read somewhere that the late French composer Messiaen had compleated a big book about rhythm just before he died, I hope this is true and that it will be published soon).

As a bass player I'm always looking for ways to keep my grooves fresh. You always have to worry about falling ino the trap of laying out on the same rhythms all the time. This book will give you a kick in the pants though. As someone who has studied music at a college level, and knows how to read music I was concerned the charts would be a pain since I've known how to read music for years. However picking up on them was not confusing at all..and in fact it's very much tied into the way you count on regular notation and it's really not a problem. Afro-Cuban/Latin and African rhtyhms are the focus here but you can use this on anything. I found myself taking a latin rhythm and adding one note here or there, and changing the notes and turning it into a funk riff or something. I'm not nearly done working through this book..some of the exercises are a challenge, especially on a pitched instrument. However in the end they do serve to freshen up your grooves. I'm going to recommend this to all the rhythm players in my band. Thanks.

I am finding this book very useful. It teaches important rhythmic concepts in very direct ways. The only thing that I question is the decision not to use standard musical notation. The book is supposed to be for musicians of all instruments: why not write the rhythms in a language that will be understood almost universally by musicians instead of creating a different system (which admittedly is fairly simple and visual)? By doing this, perhaps they are opening up their audience to some non-musicians, but at the risk of alienating the musicians the book was meant for.

I absolutely love this book. I agree with another reviewer who suggested that it for all musicians and not specifically for drummers; to me (a non-drummer), this is a virtue. The book does not discuss drum technique at all; rather it helps you explore two "timelines" - a clave pattern in four, and a pattern in six. All you need are way to play the included CD and something to make sound with - an instrument, your voice, a drum, or a tabletop. I don't know any other music instruction book that strikes such a perfect balance of simplicity and richness.

My fiddle instructor first introduced me to this book, lending me his copy for a couple weeks. Well, I needed to own my own copy. This book helps to develope hand, foot, and mind rythmic independence. For the musician with serious aspirations.

Alan Dworsky has provided great instructional texts for drummers. This book is probably best suited for musicians playing instruments other than drums, who want to understand rhythm better.

For those who are looking for a book to teach them how to play their drum, I would suggest Dworsky's other books, specifically, "How to Play the Djembe" and "Conga Drumming - A Beginner's Guide to Playing with Time". Both of these are excellent resources and probably the best books available for entry level instruction for these instruments.