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Keeping time/improving sense of rhythm- learn2play drums?

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(@dennett340)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 44
Topic starter  

I am getting into the habit of tapping my feet while I sing. The importance of keeping time has dawned on me quite recently as I realized how disengaged the crowd was at my gigs. hahahahaha

What have you guys done to improve your sense of rhythm? What did you find most effective?

I am thinking of taking drum lessons or perhaps sight reading lessons.
I did order "the rhythm bible" on amazon. Do you guys have any ideas?

P.S. After I learn a song, my voice teacher gives me feedback as I sing along with record. Pitch wise, i am pretty good so
he points out where I am off rhythmically. (to me- the rhymically unenlightened- what I am off by is so subtle, and often i cannot tell the difference)
He has suggested that I try putting on loop 5~10 seconds of a certain part of a song and that i sing that part continuously over and over again until I get it exactly like the recording. Did you guys go through this process as well? (singing or guitar)

Or is this method like trying to play a song on the guitar note for note- which I have heared is not effective because phrasing is a very personal thing?


   
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(@dogbite)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

I agree, phrasing is a personal thing. when I play with others it is best when a drummer sets the tempo.
jamming with just another guitarist whose timing is different from yours takes some adjusting.
playing solo, rhythm has never been a problem for me.
I am not sure of any thing that can improve it except time behind a guitar and time listening..

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

I think good timing is an internal thing. It helps to practice with a drum machine or metronome, but I bet if you tried to synchronize a metronome with any live perfomance from a favorite artist of yours, you will find that they do not keep perfect mechanical time. Yet it sounds fine. So good timing is not necessarily "perfect" timing. It is a feel thing. I used to play with a really good bass player and he would always say we gotta get in "the groove". It is a feeling, almost hypnotic really.

If you are performing alone, then you have to create this groove with dynamics in your playing. Just as a drummer does not continuously hit his drums in a monotonous drone, when you play guitar you have to create dynamics by how gently or forceably you strum, or how softly or loud you sing. You have to give the people a feeling to latch onto. Rests and pauses can be amazingly dynamic if performed properly.

If you perform in a group, then everyone needs to intently listen to each other. And you can't be selfish, wanting to be the prima donna. It is all about getting that groove going and playing with dynamics. Believe me, when you get in this groove you know it, the whole band knows and feels it. You can also easily tell when someone is messing up the groove.

Relaxing is important. It is funny, but when you have been playing guitar a long time, guitar seems really easy. And that is not because you are just so good, it is because it really is easy. You have to relax to realize how easy it is. New players have trouble with this and actually make it more difficult than it is. They overconcentrate and even fear which makes you stiff and unable to perform difficult passages. You must be loose as a goose. When you play, be aware of tension in your body and remind yourself to relax. Like anything else, you have to practice relaxing like this.

And singing is the same. Go to any website for singers. Over and over you will see the advice to relax and let your voice flow out. Wierd as it may sound, you will play and sing better when you do not try so hard. Just have some fun and belt it out, you will surprise yourself.

So practice with a metronome or drum machine, but also learn to relax and create your own groove within yourself. Quit worrying so much and go with the flow. :D

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

I was listening to some of my favorite songs on YouTube when I saw this video and thought it would show what I meant by getting an internal groove going. This is the old Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) by the Hollies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP94PlEtsEQ

Now this is a lip-sync to the original recording, but it is easy to see these guys are really into this song. Look at the very beginning before the drummer kicks in, there is a rear view of the band and you can see the front three guys all bobbing up and down. Kinda funny, but they are already keeping the beat before the drummer kicks in.

Then notice the little guitar break at around 1:25. Even though the drummer is not playing here, you can see him moving his sticks in the air to keep time.

So you have to learn to feel the beat within yourself like this and keep it. It is a matter of trust really, you have to trust your own body and feelings. It works.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@boxboy)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1221
 

Great example, Wes. That's a funky song. 8)
I find what improves my timing most is a phrase or part that makes me 'wait'.
Something as simple as the bassline for 'Heard It Through the Grapevine'. Nothing could be easier, right? Well, there's a long pause in there and the tendency is to 'jump the gun' and come in a fraction early. To really get it tight, I'm bobbing and weaving all over the place, waiting out the gap...
More to your point, dennett, what about a percussion class? Congas, bongos, any one of those cool African instruments.
All the best!
:)

Don


   
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