{"id":102315,"date":"2020-03-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=102315"},"modified":"2022-08-02T04:07:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:07:40","slug":"back-up-ritard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/back-up-ritard\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Stretch Time in Style: More Effective Ritardandos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>To play beautifully, we often speed up or slow down the rhythm of the music. This is one of the ways we turn black dots on a page of music into an emotional experience for us and anyone listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the better we become at speeding up and slowing down, the more expressive we can make our music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To play the music to its fullest, we must decide how much to slow down. And, we also can decide where to slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"centerc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-dhJmCQgZk4?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;autohide=1\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-a-ritardando-musical-term\">What is a Ritardando (musical term)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In musical jargon, one word telling us to slow down is \u201critardando\u201d. This could be written in the music as \u201crit.\u201d, \u201critard.\u201d or the full \u201critardando\u201d. We may also see other similar words, such as \u201crallentando\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We may also not see any of these in the music, but still feel that a slow-down is in order. This is our right as a musician playing the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-do-we-use-ritards-in-music\">Why do we use Ritards in music?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What do ritards do in music? Why do we slow down? What is the goal of slowing down the time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It could be to bring special attention to a musical moment. It could be a new or surprising chord (harmony), the end of a phrase, or end of a large section. It may also be the end of the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/rubato-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Slowing down (opens in a new tab)\">Slowing down<\/a> tells the listener that something is happening. It can be dramatic or tender, sweet or tormented. When done well, a ritard can add psychological insight into the character of the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-other-musical-considerations-forward-momentum\">Other Musical Considerations: Forward Momentum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>But we also have other desires for our music. Namely, we want our music to keep moving forward. If we slow down too much or too often, we can lose momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/longline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"momentum (opens in a new tab)\">momentum<\/a> is crucial to beautiful music, even (or especially) in slow pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we must strike a balance between slowing down for effect, and keeping our forward momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This issue comes up particularly at section endings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-negotiate-conflicting-desires-back-up-the-ritard\">How to Negotiate Conflicting Desires: Back Up the Ritard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One way we can both create drama and keep momentum is to back up the ritard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of slowing down at the very end of a section, we can instead ritard a bar or two back. This is often where we find the final cadence anyway. So it may be even more effective and interesting to listeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, we can speed back up and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/transitions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"transition (opens in a new tab)\">transition<\/a> to the next section at the normal speed of the piece. This leads the listener into the next section. It links the two sections, and removes any gap between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-theories-are-great-but-it-has-to-sound-good\">Theories are Great, But It Has to Sound Good<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This, like all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/category\/phrasing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"phrasing strategies (opens in a new tab)\">phrasing strategies<\/a>, is an idea. It\u2019s one possibility among many. And as such, it may or may not be the right strategy for any specific musical example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ultimate test is how the music sounds when we ritard this way. If it works, then it\u2019s the right idea at the right time. If not, we should keep looking for other options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Backing up the ritard is a valid strategy used by many of the best <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/p1-uOCXQ_0I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"musicians (opens in a new tab)\">musicians<\/a> of history. And each had to decide where and how much to slow down the music in each instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we practice and experiment, we can breathe more life into our music. Exploring strategies such as this one is fun, and makes practice a joy. When it works, we\u2019ve performed a type of alchemy. We\u2019ve created a beautiful moment, and also maintained the movement of the piece. A triumph!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To play beautifully, we often speed up or slow down the rhythm of the music. This is one of the ways we turn black dots on a page of music into an emotional experience for us and anyone listening. And the better we become at speeding up and slowing down, the more expressive we can make our music. To play &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/back-up-ritard\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434,3],"tags":[341,351],"class_list":["post-102315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-content-parent","category-phrasing","tag-phrasing-techniques","tag-rhythm"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stretch Time on Classical Guitar - How to Use Ritardando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Use this phrasing trick to create beautiful slow-downs (rit. ritard ritardando) and maintain the momentum and drive of the music.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/back-up-ritard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Stretch Time in Style: More Effective Ritardandos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Use this phrasing trick to create beautiful slow-downs (rit. ritard ritardando) and maintain the momentum and drive of the music.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/back-up-ritard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Classical Guitar Shed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-27T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T11:07:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/back-up-the-ritard-640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stretch Time on Classical Guitar - 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