Annotation for Graybill, Roger

Towards a Pedagogy of Gestural Rhythm

Annotation (by Jonathan D. Flowers):

Graybill distinguishes between two conceptions of rhythm. Attack-point rhythm concerns the series of durations abstracted from notated values and a metronomic pulse. Gestural rhythm refers to the flow of intensities to and/or from points of emphasis. The performance of rhythm therefore involves more than the attacking of notes at the ³correct² times. Rather, it also involves the projection of dynamic motion between those notes. Gestural shape arises from variations in dynamics, articulation, timbre, pitch contour, and duration. Graybill outlines a Dalcroze-influenced pedagogy for sensitizing freshman sightsinging students to the flow of energy in musical rhythm. His approach trains students to perform the gestural shape of a written melody or durational series without the aid of performance markings.

The thirteen units in his curriculum each contain three types of exercises. The exercises in the first part introduce new durational values in short formulaic patterns. In the early units, the gestures are marked with arrows indicating the flow of intensity to and from points of emphasis. In later units, students must infer these gestural shapes from rhythmic context. When intoning these rhythmic patterns, the students project gestural shape by changing the pitch and volume of their voice. The exercises also incorporate arm gestures, clapping, stepping, and other bodily movements. The second section in each unit employs the rhythmic gestures within longer durational exercises. The melodies in the third section of each unit illustrate how rhythm, meter, and pitch interact to create dynamic shape. Students perform these melodies in conjunction with bodily movements. In doing so, they can discover that phenomenal accents often do not coincide with metrical accents. Through the combination of vocalization and bodily movements, then, Graybill's approach aims to integrate the processes of thinking and feeling in rhythmic training.
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