What Does Rubato Mean in Music? Playing with Freedom

[OrchestralOrg]

my scrabble opponent played rubato so i had to find out what it meant.

[thekkl]

Stuff like this is so useful for those who don't have teachers.

[dennyb]

3:43 ""That's a lot better isn't it ?" it gets me every time 😂

[jordillach]

_"What does rubato mean?"_
Well, this is a very easy question for us, romance language speakers, it means _stolen, _ it is the participle of the italian verb _rubare_ that means to steal. In Spanish it is _robar, _ as well as in Portuguese and in Catalan. You steal and then return tempo, that's the idea.

[ComposerKuandohan]

Robert says that Rubato is difficult to do, especially since someone should still be able to tap to the "big" beats to the piece.
I agree with what he says, but I believe that if you feel like you should add more or less rubato, then go ahead and do it. You shouldn't sacrifice the emotion of the piece (which can only be channeled through your playing) because "keeping time." When you start to become aware of technical problems, that's when you lose your emotion and love for the music.
This is why practice is key, because once you have the timing conditioned into you, you can play whatever piece with as much emotion as you want without becoming a technical worrywart with no emotion.

Because in the end, you can add as much rubato as you want, but that can still sound emotionless when played without soul.

Now it sounds like I'm discrediting this lesson. Robert gave a great lesson, I'm just making sure that people understand that just because there's rubato doesn't mean it creates soul. It's the player's soul that shines through when playing.

[Ppuffdiddleydangdoof]

John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin was a master at this. He had such a keen sense of time that he could play behind and in front of the beat to create amazing funkiness. Bo Diddley liked to "turn the beat around" but I think that's different. Still funky as hell, but different. I never knew there was a name. Thank you for the wonderful lesson, professor and for your infectious zeal for learning.

[jonnamechange]

Both versions sounded great. Previously unaware, rubato is now another obstacle to my goal of becoming a learned musician.

[stefanvanoorschot]

This made me understand why I like Chopin so much. Thanks.

[alek]

You play this song better than any of the recordings I've heard. You ought to post a full version!

[girlwheels]

Rubato is something I never had a word for, but it's the key to musicality. I love how you play this Chopin piece.

[josealexandrearaujoalan]

Mr. Estrin you help so many people with your videos. You're a true music lover and a gifted teacher. Thank you kindly from Brazil.

[haviskam]

Loving the poetic way you present your videos. Man, I can listen to you for hours after a hard day's work.

[mantistoboggan]

The rubato gives a dreamy feel and really makes the shorter notes sparkle.

[skrdad]

First version still had Rubato. Second version maybe a little too much but what do I know :) I'm still learning...

[GrantTarredus]

Thank you for this, Robert! I’m a non musician who bought and loves an album by Terre Thaemlitz titled Oh, No! It’s RUBATO (the title and cover art are nods to Devo’s album Oh, No! It’s DEVO), and I was unfamiliar with the term. Half an hour of reading shed very little light on the subject (which I now think seems a rather elusive one, possibly even to many musicians), but your demonstration made it clear and brought it into sharp focus for me.
I do appreciate it!

[ΔημητραΠαπακυπριανου-υυ]

You are an amazing pedagogist, as the way you explain everything is clear and understandable. Also, you explain why and you use the right terms, I loved every second of the video <3

[whoopjohn]

Rubato means 'robbed' - you are robbing a bit of time from one beat to add to another.

[afnanrauf]

I have a music final tomorrow for music class. This helped a lot! Thanks for sharing. You play the piano incredibly.

[kojimapromeatspin]

My favorite piano teacher. The first channel I came across that I really enjoyed regarding piano wisdom. Thanks, Robert.

[hunterofendermen]

That was really awesome. I personally had never heard of rubato, and this video was the first one to pop up. That was an excellent description and visual showing of what rubato is.