Hola!

[nmexicn_teatime]

New to this comm. I'm going back to school after dropping out for the past two years. I have been studying my old music theory books, but I am in need of assistance. I fail, so badly at rhythmic dictation. Is there any way to learn and improve? It's why I failed piano my freshman year. I can get the notes, but not the time. Thanks so much!

Comments

[saurencaerthai]

Yes, but there is no shortcut to it.
Part 1:
1. Put on a metronome at a manageable tempo.
2. Write out all the sixteenth note combinations for one measure.
3. Practice clapping/tapping all of them until you can play them comfortably.
4. Write out all the triplet combinations, including quarter note, eight note, and sixteenth note combinations.
5. Practice clapping all of them until you can play them comfortably.

Part 2:
Select some sheet music and work on clapping the music's rhythm to a metronome. Don't stop until you get it right.

The rest is all regular, disciplined practice. Good luck!

[particle_mann]

Ooh, that's good, and I will use this with future students! I was also going to a suggest starting with the simple-have a friend sing whole notes to the original poster, then halves, then quarters, then eighths, and then start combining things in more complex fashions. You can probably rig Sibelius to do something similar, even if it does mean peeking at the answers first :P

[xtingu]

Wow, that's exactly how I do it!

[lotheuialien]

As much as most freshman/sophomore students loathe it, MacGamut is a very helpful (and pretty cheap) computer program that helps with all of your aural skills needs: rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic diction exercises.

I'm sure it will be more fun if you're doing it to improve yourself, rather than for homework :)

http://www.macgamut.com/