Snake Dance Variations – Variation One

Musicarta Beat and Rhythm, Snake Dance series

The Snake Dance variations presented here are syncopation exercises for you to attempt, vary and recombine at will. If performed at all, one would expect pieces like this to be played from memory, and MS is not provided.

Instead, the variations have verbal descriptions which help engage your ‘normal’ brain functions in memorising the arrangements. Beat maps and some practice suggestions are given.

The variations all have a right-hand-under second half. This is just a suggestion. Playing hands crossed looks good, though, and ‘scrambles’ the signal to your brain a bit, so mastering the crossed hands arrangements secures your syncopation abilities even more.

The MIDI files of the four variations are included in your download. Play them them on MidiPiano for desktop coaching videos.

Variation One

The first part of variation One has a new minim-crotchet-crotchet left hand. Here is the tapping pattern for the first line.

The second part is the final syncopated version of the build-up (Lesson Six) played right-hand-under with the melody in the bass.