"By using two well-established principles in human learning, ‘the Reference Rhythm Method’ makes you expand your rhythmic vocabulary almost without you noticing. The first principle is to use what is already mastered to learn the new – a mode in which the brain easily attains new capacities. The other principle is chunking, which is a way to group items into subunits and patterns to facilitate understanding and thereby learning. Take something you are in command of (like a simple rhythmic pattern), change it just slightly (even it out or play it loosely). Abracadabra – you play a new advanced rhythm while all you thought of when learning was the old one you felt so familiar with. The new one was wedged in, and a bridge was quickly built to the new territory. I am really impressed by how basic psychological learning principles are harnessed in ‘the Reference Rhythm Method’."
Mats Lekander professor of psychology, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Sweden, and also a double-bass player
