Keeping the Beat

[Scratch]

Trying to improve my tempo. I considered some SW programs, but eventually decided to order one of these this week: http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMYDD40.

Should be here Monday... Anybody used one or something similar?

 

[killdeer43]

I don't drum. 8)

Joe

 

[Scratch]

I don't either! One of the functions is to establish the beat you want, then play along...

 

[killdeer43]

I don't either! One of the functions is to establish the beat you want, then play along...

I know....I was trying to get a chuckle out of you.
Should have inserted :lol: instead of 8) .

Joe

 

[kitniyatran]

I'm a metronome believer.

 

[Ravon]

I don't have one Scratch but it looks like it'd be great for home recording. I've thought about getting one myself but I'm still trying to figure out my 4-track digital recorder :?

 

[jte]

If you want to improve your sense of time, a drum machine can be pretty pointless. If you want to get experience playing with different grooves, they're invaluable. But to work on timing by itself, all that rhythm going on covers up your problems. So, here's what I suggest...

Set the snare sound to hit only on 2 and 4. Play to that. That forces YOU to keep the beat instead of relying on the machine to keep it for you. If you rush or drag while only hearing the 2 and 4, you'll notice right away and know what you have to work at. You have to supply 1 and 3 and get there at the right time. The nakedness of only hearing the back beats forces YOU to get better.

John

 

[killdeer43]

I've got rhythm....who could ask for anything more? :wink:

Joe

 

[fronobulax]

Metronome here.

jte's suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg (had to get a Titanic reference in somewhere) with the next step being just having sound on one beat, but not the first, of the measure.

 

[Frosty]

Old Boss Dr. Beat metronome.

Thanks for the reminder.... I don't practice with it as much as I could.

 

[killdeer43]

Old Boss Dr. Beat metronome.

Thanks for the reminder.... I don't practice with it as much as I could.

IMHO, you seem to be coming along just fine. :wink:

Joe

*I watch your videos for inspiration, so thanks!

 

[DasBeef]

I have one of these....

I don't use it for timing, but I use the MIDI out to record drums on Garageband. I then use Garageband to clean up my sloppy timing mistakes, and errors. Quite a fun bit of kit. Not amazing, but good enough for what I want to do with it. I'm also not much of a drummer. More of a musician..... :wink:

 

[Ross]

....... I use the MIDI out to record drums on Garageband. I then use Garageband to clean up my sloppy timing mistakes, and errors. Quite a fun bit of kit. Not amazing, but good enough for what I want to do with it. I'm also not much of a drummer. More of a musician..... :wink:

I'm also a GB user. I find that GB's metronome is very faint, and I can't hear it when I'm playing along. Instead, I use one of the many percussion loops available on GB.

On another note, er....beat, I recently purchased a bodhran. After several decades of playing guitar, I believed that I could keep a steady beat. I quickly learned otherwise :lol:

 

[killdeer43]

Man, I tell you, I've been playing for over 40 years and the only equipment I've ever used is a guitar (sometimes a banjo :shock: ), maybe a capo, and sometimes a pick.
And I'm not talking about peripherals like mics/mic stands, etc.

It really doesn't seem to be that confusing to me. Am I missing something here? :?

Ever curious I am,
Joe

 

[idealassets]

I started playing drums ealy in life. Now, on guitar, I sometimes tap my left foot on the 1 and 3, or the 2 and 4 when playing with other players.

There are a lot of guitar players that are not aware of their bad timing. It is difficult when I am leading a song and another musician begins to dominate the song with their bad sense of timing. When I play with these off-time folk groups, sometimes for 3 hours, I really feel drained afterwards.

I have learned to just put up with it. The only solace I can think of is the extreme pleasure of getting with some folks that are naturally gifted with both a sense of timing and rhythm.

 

[TonyT]

I saw Kris Kritofferson stop a song right at the beginning one night when people started clapping the beat. " You can clap if you want to, but if I don't know the beat, how the hell can any of you know it?"

 

[killdeer43]

I saw Kris Kritofferson stop a song right at the beginning one night when people started clapping the beat. " You can clap if you want to, but if I don't know the beat, how the hell can any of you know it?"

I saw Gordon Lighfoot in concert once, and when he started singing Don Quixote, people started to clap along....he stopped immediately and lectured the audience.
He said that they would lose interest, clap out of time, etc., and that they really needed to listen to the lyrics.

That made me an even bigger fan than I already was.

Joe

 

[kitniyatran]

...

There are a lot of guitar players that are not aware of their bad timing. It is difficult when I am leading a song and another musician begins to dominate the song with their bad sense of timing. When I play with these off-time folk groups, sometimes for 3 hours, I really feel drained afterwards.

I have learned to just put up with it. The only solace I can think of is the extreme pleasure of getting with some folks that are naturally gifted with both a sense of timing and rhythm.

A couple of years ago our winter pianist at church had to sit out for a few weeks due to surgery. The first replacement, a crowd pleasing barrelhouse gospel style player,who dominates anything she does, was hard for me to play guitar with, due to her having her "own"timing. The second, nowhere near as impressive sounding, but music educated, was steady on the beat. Give me timing over flash any day.

 

[Frosty]

....Am I missing something here?

Who are we to say, Joe? Try playing with a metronome and find out! :wink:

It's not always about "fast", either. Try playing a slow melody in perfect time.

 

[Scratch]

....Am I missing something here?

Who am we to say, Joe? Try playing with a metronome and find out! :wink:

It's not always about "fast", either. Try playing a slow melody in perfect time.

It's the slow beats that give me fits!