Posts Tagged ‘Piece Of Music’
Riding Your Horse to Music! Do You Want to Learn to Dance With Your Horse?
Tips to help your dressage horse (or any horse!) enjoy the benefits of riding a musical freestyle or just riding to music.
So whether you want to ride competitively or just want to enjoy riding to music at home, here are some free tips.
6 Tips for Picking Out Awesome Freestyle Music for Your Horse
1. Know your horse’s ideal BPM (beats per minute)
2. The average horse has the following BPM:
o Walk 90-106 BPM
o Trot 138-160 BPM
o Canter 96-108 BPM
3. Pick music that matches your horse’s BPM within 4-6 BPM range.
(For example if your dressage horse has a canter of 104 BPM, choose music that is between 100 BPM and 108 BPM)
4. Choose music that has a very clear downbeat. (You’d tap your toe to the downbeat.)
5. If you CAN’T tap your toe or clap your hands easily to the beat of the music, it’s not great freestyle music!
6. Choose freestyle music that will help you achieve your horse’s ideal tempo.
For example: If your horse is a bit on the lazy side, choose an upbeat and energetic piece of music that will help YOU ask for more energy. If your horse is hot or nervous, choose freestyle music that will help you feel calm and steady as well as help your horse with rhythm and relaxation.
7.Choose music that has dynamic changes. Dynamic changes are audible changes within the music (either volume or intensity) where you can make transitions. (for example, the music should FEEL or SOUND like there is a transition to an extended trot) When you are riding a freestyle for competition, the dynamic changes of the music need to match your transitions both within the gate and from gait to gait. Meaning, when you begin and end a half-pass, the observer should see and hear the transition and hear the change in the music occurring together. When riding a transition from gait to gait, such as the canter to walk for example, the observer should hear and see the transition to the walk occur with the change in the music.
8. Choose music that has appropriate back ground music. Even when a selection of music has the correct BPM for a trot; for example, the music that is in the back ground has an impact on the FEEL of the music. If you have a hot nervous horse, a high pitched frantic violin in the back ground will NOT help you or your horse maintain rhythm and relaxation. On the other hand, if your horse is always lacking impulsion or is lazy, more upbeat and forward moving back ground music will help you increase his energy level. For example, a soft and slower piece of jazz music might be appropriate for a nervous horse, but would allow the quiet or lazy horse to have even less energy.
Ruth Hogan Poulsen
http://www.Ruthhoganpoulsen.com
Ruth@Ruthhoganpoulsen.com
Author: Ruth Hogan Poulsen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What the Judges Want to “Hear” When They Listen to Your Dressage Horse’s Musical Freestyle!
When the judges are listening to your music, what are they listening for? One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “How do the judges evaluate my music?” I’m going to go over the guidelines that are given to the judges so you can be on the same page as they are. There are four categories that the judges must consider when listening to and watching your freestyle. They are:
1. Suitability
2. Cohesiveness
3. Editing
4. Phrasing and dynamics
Let’s go over them one by one.
1. Suitability – The actual definition in the USDF rulebook says, “The music matches and expresses the horse and the gaits.”
What does this mean? “Matching the gaits” means that the music tempo or beats per minute (BPM) is the same as your horse’s down beat in the foot fall pattern of the walk, trot, and canter. (For the upper levels, it must also match piaffe and passage.)
The downbeat of the measure (the one you tap your toe to) should match the down beat of your horse’s gait. For example, in the canter the main down beat of the right lead would be the third beat, when the right front hits the ground. If the judge can tap his toe to the music and it matches when the right front foot is hitting the ground in the right lead, then the tempo matches your horse’s gait.
Matching your horse’s “expression” can be a bit more subjective although it’s very obvious when it does NOT match. If you’re riding a big springy warmblood, then cute circus music is not appropriate. On the flip side, a smaller, more average mover would look even more average if he had a large piece of music. Large music may draw wrong expectations from the judges because of the depth of the music. Bigger music is not always better.
2. Cohesiveness is defined in the rulebook as, “Music that is linked by genre, theme or orchestration.” This means that the judges should easily be able to hear the connection between the pieces of music.
The music should sound as if it were one piece for all the selected gaits. The link could be music of the same genre, like jazz or rock and roll, or the same instrument could be featured throughout the piece.
The link could also be music from TV shows, or a movie series. In any case, the connection of the music should be obvious to more than just you. You may think that the connection is apparent, but ask a few friends if they “get it” before you finalize your selection of music.
3. Editing is defined as “Music that has a smooth flow; there are no abrasive cuts, transition or fades.” If you can hear a cut or clip in a piece of music, it’s not a good edit.
Remember that music has phrases. You should never cut or edit a piece of music in the middle of a phrase. It would be like leaving off the end of a sentence. You’d leave the judges hanging.
Imperceptible edits are seamless. Elements that play an important role in a good edit are pitch, key, and where the beats are in the measure.
4. Phrasing and dynamics-Phrasing is defined as “The way sequences of notes are grouped together to form units of melody; the expression of musical sentences.”
This means that a line of notes or measures are grouped together with a clear beginning and end, like a sentence. You should almost feel like taking a breath at the end of a musical phrase much like you would at the end of a sentence.
Dynamics are the variations of the intensity of sound such as the changes in volume and intensity that would help define a change in a movement. For example, going from working trot to a lengthening, or a collected trot to half pass would be more enhanced with a clear, dynamic musical change.
The judges don’t want to guess when your lengthening was supposed to start. They want to hear a clear change in the music, volume, or intensity.
Hope this helps get you on the same “page” as the judges!
Ruth Hogan Poulsen
http://www.Ruthhoganpoulsen.com
Author: Ruth Hogan Poulsen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Dressage Musical Freestyle Information – Rhythm Vs Tempo – What You Kneed to Know
RHYTHM AND TEMPO
Before you can pick the perfect freestyle music for your horse, you need to understand the difference between rhythm and tempo.
Many people use the words rhythm and tempo interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing. This month, I’ll go over the meaning of each–both in musical terminology and in riding terminology. It doesn’t matter if you ride DRESSAGE, HUNTERS, or you are an EVENT RIDER. Every equestrian needs RHYTHM!!!
Rhythm – When riding, regularity of the rhythm refers to the even spacing between each step in a stride of walk, trot, or canter. In music, rhythm is made up of sounds and silences. These sounds and silences are put together to form patterns of sound which are repeated to create rhythm.
Look at the two descriptions of rhythm and put them together. Think of the sounds and silences of the musical terminology and the even spacing between each step of your horse’s gaits as the same thing. When the horse’s foot is down it is a sound. When your horse’s foot is up, it is silent. This is how we can relate the rhythm of music to the rhythm of your horse’s gaits.
Tempo -Tempo is the speed of the music or the speed of your horse. Depending on how fast you want to go, you can adjust the rate of repetition of the rhythm.
Tempo in music can be fast, slow, or in-between. Music sounds and feels different depending on how fast it’s played. The same piece of music will have a different effect or mood depending on whether it’s played fast or slow.
Hopefully, this description clarifies the difference between rhythm and tempo as it applies to music and to your horse.
Next month, we’ll talk about choosing the particular kind of music that will accentuate your horse’s strengths. Stay tuned for a whole lot of fun!
Ruth Hogan Poulsen
http://www.Ruthhoganpoulsen.com
Author: Ruth Hogan Poulsen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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