You’ve Got Rhythm
read music better by feeling the beat
CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT
You’ve Got Rhythm Is a complete method for learning to read rhythm, using lyrics and simple gestures to reinforce the rhythmic feel.
You’ve Got Rhythm helps us transform the abstract dots on any page of music into living physical sensations that lead to a vibrant and visceral understanding of rhythm. It makes music come alive.
Raj Bhimani, piano teacher
Starting with the basics and advancing to sophisticated and shifting rhythmic patterns, You’ve Got Rhythm guides you step by step to more confident sight-reading and solid rhythmic literacy.
You’ve Got Rhythm is available in both hard-copy and digital forms. The 126-page book can be used by itself or with optional digital recordings. The downloadable PDF version includes audio, and is divided into beginning, intermediate, and advanced sections sold individually.
Music learners of all ages and all instruments and voices can benefit from our surprising, fun, and physical approach to reading music.
You’ve Got Rhythm …
tackles music-reading problems at the root—by focusing on rhythm.
The magic of You’ve Got Rhythm is “Talking Music”—spoken-word compositions that use thigh slaps, hand claps, and finger taps to help you learn to read rhythm fast by feeling the rhythm as you read the music.
I came away with a whole different understanding and feeling for rhythm. No matter how black a sheet of music is now, I don’t feel intimidated. I can’t believe how quickly you can get at core meanings and values using it.
Martin Nagle, Michigan
makes reading music feel natural because you feel the beat as you read and perform.
You’ll learn to sight-read and perform steadily and smoothly at tempo, even with music you’ve never seen before.
Sight-reading is transformed from a nerve-wracking task into a fun, tricky, dance-like game.
Just what I’ve been looking for. At last—a method that makes rhythm concrete! My students love them. Thank you! Thank you!
Melissa sweet, flute teacher, New York
teaches step-by-step, from basic notation to advanced rhythmic skills.
The book’s friendly design and step-by-step structure invite beginners in—and also challenge advanced musicians to polish their skills.
I’m loving You’ve Got Rhythm. I ‘m learning so much and it’s opening doors to music skills I felt ‘shut out of’ growing up. Slap/Clap/Tap really works for me.
Sarah Pirtle, musician & educator, Massachusetts
uses lyrics not only to express the rhythm, but also educate, entertain, and explore.
The lyrics—from literary classics and vintage household hints to our own musings on composers, music, and life—are fun, funny, thought-provoking, and inspirational.
I can just see a classroom of people slapping their thighs, clapping their hands, and tapping their fingers while reciting together, ‘We wish that Americans appreciated good radishes and used them as largely as do the French …’
Ed Roseman, author, Edly’s Music Theory for Practical People
Finally: relief for the rhythmically challenged—and without that nasty medicinal taste!
How It Works
You’ve Got Rhythm uses two simple but powerful tools: Slap/Clap/Tap and Talking Music.
Slap/Clap/Tap: the essence of You’ve Got Rhythm
slap
your legs on the strongest beat (the downbeat)
clap
on the next strongest beats (secondary accents)
tap
your thumbs against your index fingers on the weak beats (the offbeats)
The Exercises: Talking Music
Speak the words in the rhythm notated as you keep the beat by slapping, clapping, and tapping according to the strong and weak metric accents.
You’ll find that the lyrics support the musical meter.
Sample Pages
From Chapter 1, “Get Rhythm!”
From Chapter 1, “Get Rhythm!”
From Chapter 2, “Compound Meter”
From Chapter 3, “Syncopation Between the Beats”
From Chapter 4, “Tuplets, Double Dots, Suspending the Meter, and No Meter”
From Chapter 5, “Irregular and Shifting Meters”
