There are some people who can sit down at a piano and just play stuff with seemingly no effort at all. They seem to get the notes and the timing (or rhythm) without even really thinking. This is the perception but it is not actually a reality.
I would be one of those people who can play effortlessly if it is simple enough. If it is not just simple enough, I have mastered the art of making it seem easy when really I’m like a duck – on the surface I seem to glide but underneath I am working hard. Sometimes you may have no idea how much brain power is being used.
If I am learning or playing a piece of music that is challenging to me, especially if the timing is complicated or syncopated I still have to count. Yes, even after all these years sometimes I still have to count. When I was a kid learning to play the piano, I was always taught to count and much to my embarrassment I was often forced to count aloud.
As an adult who can play the piano well and as a piano teacher, I have come to realize and actually appreciate what my piano teachers made me do. If you are not naturally gifted at getting the timing accurate (and I most certainly have fallen into that category), then counting is a very useful tool. Sometimes the act of counting aloud is even more useful because it would use more parts of the brain to think and speak the actual counting than just thinking alone.
When it comes to counting, counting the beat is straightforward:
2/4 counts as 1, 2
3/4 counts as 1, 2, 3
4/4 counts as 1, 2, 3, 4
If there are quavers (eighth notes) included in the music, I use the word ‘and’ to pinpoint where the quavers go. If the above time signatures were full of quavers, then would count it as:
2/4 count 1 and 2 and
3/4 count 1 and 2 and 3 and
4/4 count 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
It is important to note that the ‘and’ doesn’t actually mean anything, it is merely a way of marking the halfway point in between the beats.
If you have semiquavers (sixteenth notes), especially when there is 4 in a row. A way of fitting the four quick notes into the beat is by counting: ‘1 er and a’ if it starts on the first beat of the bar. If it starts on the third beat of the bar then it would be ‘3 er and a’. The same principle applies with using ‘and’ with quavers, the ‘er’, the ‘and’, and the ‘a’ don’t actually mean anything they are just a way of getting the four semiquavers happening in the one beat. This was the way I was taught and I know from my own experience as a piano student and then from my decades of teaching the piano that this system does work.
When it comes to the compound time signatures, there are two options. The first option would be counting the beat (which a beat is equal to a dotted crochet or dotted quarter note):
6/8 counts as 1, 2
9/8 counts as 1, 2, 3
12/8 counts as 1, 2, 3, 4
With compound time, there is also the option of counting all the pulses in each bar (measure), so:
6/8 counts as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
9/8 counts as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
12/8 counts as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
I would recommend that you could count either way as some piano pieces are easier to count one way and some the other way. Many pieces you could decide for yourself which works best for you.
While I think counting is probably the most effective tool to help you get your timing absolutely accurate, using a metronome can also be helpful. It really is a personal preference but some people prefer to practice with a metronome. I have often used a metronome myself and found it to be really useful.
I have also heard of a new type of metronome that you can wear on your wrist like a watch and instead of hearing a ‘tick’ like a traditional metronome, you feel a pulse instead. I have not tried it out or know anyone who has got one and tried it, so I can’t really give a recommendation but, I think for some people, this could be a really useful tool especially those people who cannot stand repetitive noises.
If you are one of many piano players who struggle to get their timing of their piano pieces accurate, please persist and make use of some tool or technique that will help you. Just like everything else in life, the more you work at it, the easier it will become.