Clapping Music

Once I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to do the two rhythms of Steve Reich's 'Clapping Music' at the same time--one on each hand. A surefire way to procrastinate... Nevertheless I recently stumbled across this video that very brilliantly and simply breaks down the clapping rhythms in a visual way. For those unfamiliar with the piece, it was written in 1972 and consists of two people clapping the same rhythm for four measures and then one of the clappers slowly shifts the rhythm throughout the piece until he returns to the original rhythmic structure at the end.




If this is too hard, just spend some time trying to pat your head and rub your stomach.

OR

Try to follow Miss South Carolina's train of thought and keep your head from exploding.



I would like to think that this is a map of her brain.