Rubato is Pro Stuff!
the use of rubato cannot be underestimated. what exactly is rubato?
(it.) robbed, stolen; taking a portion of the duration from one note & giving it to another.
tempo rubato---robbed or stolen time; irregular time; meaning a slight deviation to give more expression by retarding one note, & quickening another, but so that the time of each measure is not altered as a whole. [both taken from elson's pocket music dictionary]
this can be used to great advantage in jazz, & most other styles of music. i consider it "the king of professionalism, or expression"; & who doesn't want to be expressive, is this not what we are striving for?
"look at these trees!" liszt said, "the wind plays in the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, that is chopinesque rubato."
(it.) robbed, stolen; taking a portion of the duration from one note & giving it to another.
tempo rubato---robbed or stolen time; irregular time; meaning a slight deviation to give more expression by retarding one note, & quickening another, but so that the time of each measure is not altered as a whole. [both taken from elson's pocket music dictionary]
this can be used to great advantage in jazz, & most other styles of music. i consider it "the king of professionalism, or expression"; & who doesn't want to be expressive, is this not what we are striving for?
"look at these trees!" liszt said, "the wind plays in the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, that is chopinesque rubato."
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"some of chopin's students have assured me that in the rubato the left hand ought to keep perfect time, whilst the right indulges its fancy; & that in such a case chopin would say, 'the left hand is the conductor of the orchestra.' many passages of the 'berceuse' can be executed in this manner [...] it is nevertheless, my belief that this means can only be employed in certain cases; & i, therefore, can only regard it as demi-rubato (one hand). there are passages in the works of chopin, in which not only do the leaves tremble, but the trunk (left hand) totters (examples...etc). we may quote also the impromptu in ab [op. 29]; here everything totters from foundation to summit, & everything is nevertheless so beautiful & clear!"...kleczynski, [from eigeldinger's "chopin: pianist and teacher as seen by his pupils] (parenthesis mine)
i was just going to mention that rubato is good as long as there is some kind of underlying current of time going past.
no one wants to turn into one of those solo piano players that no one hires because "they play like a solo piano player." that is, without regard to time or harmony as it is set in the music, which is easy to get away with in solo piano!
no one wants to turn into one of those solo piano players that no one hires because "they play like a solo piano player." that is, without regard to time or harmony as it is set in the music, which is easy to get away with in solo piano!
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Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 11/12/2005, 18:27
when playing solo piano onromantic, rubato-style ballads, it can be nice to play the first chorus rubato.
playing behind will give a laid back, 'cool', casual feel to the song - almost dreamy. the ahead of the beat will make the song seem more up tempo than it actually is. there are of course degrees of use for this technique, and if you take either too far, you will sound as though you are playing out of time.
what was it that barry harris said in his tips about playing rubato?
playing behind will give a laid back, 'cool', casual feel to the song - almost dreamy. the ahead of the beat will make the song seem more up tempo than it actually is. there are of course degrees of use for this technique, and if you take either too far, you will sound as though you are playing out of time.
what was it that barry harris said in his tips about playing rubato?
if you begin to rush... the audience is going to feel uncomfortable.
if youre playing with tempos, the only options are to keep it steady or expand the time.
if youre playing with tempos, the only options are to keep it steady or expand the time.
"there are of course degrees of use for this technique, and if you take either too far, you will sound as though you are playing out of time."
...but if you're a master, you will sound super.
"i was just going to mention that rubato is good as long as there is some kind of underlying current of time going past."
...of course, the beats per minute are usually constant.
"if you begin to rush... the audience is going to feel uncomfortable. if youre playing with tempos, the only options are to keep it steady or expand the time."
...would you elaborate?
"what was it that barry harris said in his tips about playing rubato?"
...i don't know, what did he say?
...but if you're a master, you will sound super.
"i was just going to mention that rubato is good as long as there is some kind of underlying current of time going past."
...of course, the beats per minute are usually constant.
"if you begin to rush... the audience is going to feel uncomfortable. if youre playing with tempos, the only options are to keep it steady or expand the time."
...would you elaborate?
"what was it that barry harris said in his tips about playing rubato?"
...i don't know, what did he say?
"no one wants to turn into one of those solo piano players that no one hires because "they play like a solo piano player." that is, without regard to time or harmony as it is set in the music, which is easy to get away with in solo piano!"
...not to mention those who act & play as if the other instruments were not even there; no interaction, not adding your part to make the whole a complete "entity". i hate these types of musicians!
...not to mention those who act & play as if the other instruments were not even there; no interaction, not adding your part to make the whole a complete "entity". i hate these types of musicians!
7,... what's your take on rubato?
dalty. "
albetan "
dalty. "
albetan "
so, basically rubato is just playing without a real time signature. if im right, that is something you hear at the beginning of alot of gospel songs. the singer will sing without a real time signature, and the piano/organ/keyboard will follow them, and after they do it once they usually get into the beat and the drums and everyone else joins in.
in a portion of a tune, you must forget your metronome and play it freely.
solart,
since you asked ...
i guess the rubato i'm most familiar with is what albetan calls "romantic rubato".
by that i mean i'll use it for the intro of (or sometimes throughout) a romantic ballad.
even though in rubato the time is played with more elasticity, there still has to be the feel that the musician has a complete mastery of time.
i would say that a musician without mastery of time and rhythm is incapable of playing rubato. this is like the old adage "in order to break the rules, you have to know what they are first".
* * * * * * *
i would not necessarily define "pulling and pushing" notes over a regular rhythmic background as rubato, that to me is simply a common expressive effect.
since you asked ...
i guess the rubato i'm most familiar with is what albetan calls "romantic rubato".
by that i mean i'll use it for the intro of (or sometimes throughout) a romantic ballad.
even though in rubato the time is played with more elasticity, there still has to be the feel that the musician has a complete mastery of time.
i would say that a musician without mastery of time and rhythm is incapable of playing rubato. this is like the old adage "in order to break the rules, you have to know what they are first".
* * * * * * *
i would not necessarily define "pulling and pushing" notes over a regular rhythmic background as rubato, that to me is simply a common expressive effect.
"i would say that a musician without mastery of time and rhythm is incapable of playing rubato. this is like the old adage "in order to break the rules, you have to know what they are first"."
...that makes sense to me. not too long ago i played with a guitar player who would "snip away" [similar to cutting recording tape out & splicing the remaining tape together] the end portions of some measures (but gee, which ones?), very annoying! he didn't ask me what i thought off his playing, but if he did i would've told him, you need to work on your meter bigtime!
...that makes sense to me. not too long ago i played with a guitar player who would "snip away" [similar to cutting recording tape out & splicing the remaining tape together] the end portions of some measures (but gee, which ones?), very annoying! he didn't ask me what i thought off his playing, but if he did i would've told him, you need to work on your meter bigtime!
the use of rubato cannot be underestimated. what exactly is rubato?
(it.) robbed, stolen; taking a portion of the duration from one note & giving it to another.
tempo rubato---robbed or stolen time; irregular time; meaning a slight deviation to give more expression by retarding one note, & quickening another, but so that the time of each measure is not altered as a whole. [both taken from elson's pocket music dictionary]
this can be used to great advantage in jazz, & most other styles of music. i consider it "the king of professionalism, or expression"; & who doesn't want to be expressive, is this not what we are striving for?
"look at these trees!" liszt said, "the wind plays in the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, that is chopinesque rubato."
(it.) robbed, stolen; taking a portion of the duration from one note & giving it to another.
tempo rubato---robbed or stolen time; irregular time; meaning a slight deviation to give more expression by retarding one note, & quickening another, but so that the time of each measure is not altered as a whole. [both taken from elson's pocket music dictionary]
this can be used to great advantage in jazz, & most other styles of music. i consider it "the king of professionalism, or expression"; & who doesn't want to be expressive, is this not what we are striving for?
"look at these trees!" liszt said, "the wind plays in the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, that is chopinesque rubato."
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