Improving your time keeping

[Niles]

I like practicing to a click, but to not get too dependent on it, I like to have the click hitting the offbeats - anything but 'One'. I got the idea from a Jeff Sipe article - he describes it as the click playing along with you, vs. you playing to the click. That's a cool way to look at it - you're responsible for the One. It's a really helpful exercise, and will show you a lot of tendencies you might not have been aware of... Also, he said that most musicians rush their upbeats, so the click is laying them out for you, to keep you honest...

[Paul Marangoni]

[Julián Fernández]

"You can all play in time if you know the notes to play..."

I gotta agree with that statement. I do devote most of my practice time to play with some sort of click track or rhythm machine, but I do believe that if you really know your stuff and put serious time it doesn´t matter how you do it, you´ll develop a good sense of meter... Thanks Paul!

[Clint Hopkins]

I practice to a click some but I've been of the opinion that musicians are well served to spend a greater portion of their practice time to developing their ears in regards to time. Developing a sensitivity to time comes from hearing, with or without the metronome.

I've been listening to Richie Hayward with Buddy Guy and Keltner with Clapton, 'From The Cradle', and have come to the conclusion that one can not play those beautiful slow grooves with that kind of feel through practicing with a click.

[langmick]

This is some of the best advice I've ever come across.

[chris perra]

Timing only becomes an issue or there is more than one person playing... Then it becomes relative to the 2 or more players..

We use a metronome to build muscle and mental memory... Unless every one who is playing has that same capability... Great time can never really happen..

The best thing you can do is use a metronome for everyone to build a reference muscle memory wise... No 2 players will be exactly the same in comparison to the click but if they get close enough or are consistent with being a bit ahead or behind and it sits there then that'll do...

Hopefully the drummer has good enough time that they can be the reference to focus on... Not necessarily the click... So many times when recording I will play back a track that sounds weird timing wise...

Play back the drums and click... sounds great.... guitar or bass or whatever might be playing separately and the click... sounds great...

Play them together... yuck.... because each person is only using the click as a reference... not each other... Or in the case of something you want to have good feel.... the drummer.. If they are a decent drummer...

Al of them are off a bit with the click with slightly different nuances.. but the offness is not off together so they fight and it sounds like musical nausea...

Also to me the more subdivisions you can keep track of the better... in your head or with a click.... a well as focusing on having even hands stick height wise... with varying volume levels... if they are of... things can gt easily pushed or pulled timing wise... and come out uneven and wonky...

[Old Pit Guy]

The Berlin video .. could be wrong, but I think there's a distinction between practicing music you're learning and playing with a click. I always approached the metronome as an instrument I'm playing with that just happens to have incredible time. I never sat down to learn something new accompanied by a click.

[Paul Marangoni]

This should start at the 7:00 mark. Pat Metheny talking about time.
http://youtu.be/Yl_e3ckDbbk?t=7m

[Cymbalfeltfetishist]

I thought Weckl's last set of instructional video's - talking about playing time - more specifically, how your body movements dictate the time - really struck a chord with me.

If you are consistant with your motions - say for example, you are playing 8th notes on the hi hat, and using a Moeller motion to play those 8th notes - your body is playing in time based on the motion. Each motion is a tick in time. Some guys call it "playing the space". A slower tune might have more motion than a fast tune...but there is always a motion. Even if the motion is very minimal, it's there. You almost can't lose playing perfect time if you develop this correctly.

There is always the argument about how today's music needs to have metronomic time. I think it's a good skill to have - but proceed with caution! I think a lot of guys go too far with this. I think Jeff Berlin has it right...too much attention on perfect metronomic time - and in my opinion, you concentrate less on the MUSIC and more on the metronome. Our inconsistencies - along with our consistencies - make our "style" or "voice"....we don't want to sound like robots for god sake - thats just shit. I always admired guys who had a voice and playing personality. On top of that - those particular drummers play 'good-enough' time. You have to have good time - it's important as drummers and should be developed....I just don't believe you should sit in front of the computer and correct every frappin note. Have a personality. Don't sacrifice feel for something sterile.

[Niles]

The Berlin video .. could be wrong, but I think there's a distinction between practicing music you're learning and playing with a click. I always approached the metronome as an instrument I'm playing with that just happens to have incredible time. I never sat down to learn something new accompanied by a click.

Jeff Sipe had a great interview in Drumhead magazine a couple years ago, where he talks about how he worked with the click... He programs it so it's never on the downbeat - this way you are responsible for the one - and yeah, psychologically it's good to think of the click as playing along with you. You really become aware of certain tendencies this way...