Rhythm: a rare gift

In my experience with collegiate large ensembles, the common area of musicianship to be lacking in is rhythm.

Rhythm is about discipline and focus. You have to play the pitches exactly where they are to be played, regardless of any impulses you have otherwise. This sounds like a no-brainer, but we've all had the experience of reading a rhythm, understanding it, and still playing it wrong because we aren't paying attention to what we are doing.

Rhythm is also augmented by listening to other parts around you. As an ensemble, we all move together through a crafted, intricate gauntlet of attacks and durations. Part of achieving good rhythm is the ability to follow the ensemble or another player.

Rhythm is felt. In band music especially, whenever we have lots of odd-meter shifts, plenty of tied notes, and triplets/duplets/sextuplets, I also feel like the music is a sort of dance. When I run through the passage in my head, my body just kind of moves by itself according to the impulse. I think even the most strange rhythms can be felt naturally. So when you figure out a strange rhythm, try to sing it in your head as a natural-sounding melody. This can help the passage to interface with your brain a little better.

So four points on rhythm: discipline, focus, listen to the ensemble, and feel the rhythms.