Clean Recording, Uneven Bar
A guitarist submits a recording of a study in 6/8 at dotted-crotchet = 96. The recording is technically clean: no buzzes, no missed notes, accurate pitch. However, the teacher notices that bars 9–16, which contain continuous quaver runs, are consistently about 4% faster than bars 1–8, and that the first note of each bar in the run is slightly accented even though the score marks no accent. The student says the passage 'feels easier' there and that the accent helps them 'keep track of the beat'. The assessment criteria reward stylistic accuracy and control of pulse as well as note accuracy. The student has one week before submission and can re-record twice.
1. Diagnose the two faults and explain why 'technically clean' does not mean 'accurate'.
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Fault one: a 4% tempo drift between sections. At dotted-crotchet = 96, a bar of 6/8 lasts about 0.625 s; a 4% speed-up shortens each bar by roughly 0.025 s, which compounds over eight bars to about 0.2 s - audible as a lurch rather than a smooth continuation. The cause is likely that the quaver runs are motorically easier than the opening, so the student relaxes into them.
Fault two: an unmarked accent on the first note of each bar. In 6/8 the metrical hierarchy is strong–weak–weak–weak–weak–weak at the dotted-crotchet level, but the quaver grouping is 3+3; accenting every bar's first quaver flattens the internal 3+3 lilt and turns the run into a series of downbeats. It is a crutch for pulse, not an interpretation.
'Technically clean' describes only pitch and tone. Accuracy in this syllabus includes pulse stability and fidelity to markings. An unmarked accent is a deviation from the score just as a wrong note is.
2. Design a one-week plan using the two available re-records.
Read the worked answer
Day 1–2: practise bars 9–16 with a metronome at dotted-crotchet = 88 (slower than target) and count the 3+3 subdivision aloud, deliberately removing the accent by playing the first quaver softer than the second group's first note. Record a practice take (not a submission) to confirm the drift is gone.
Day 3–4: practise the join between bars 8 and 9 in isolation, entering from the preceding bar so the tempo is carried, not reset. Use a drone or click on the dotted crotchet only, forcing the student to feel the internal grouping without accenting.
Day 5: first formal re-record, full take, no stopping. Listen back against the click and mark any bar where the pulse shifts.
Day 6: fix only the marked bars, then second formal re-record. Keep the better of the two takes.
The plan spends the two re-records on full takes after the fault is corrected in practice, rather than using them as diagnostic tools. That is the judgement being tested: recordings are for capture, practice is for repair.