grrrr.... stupid laptop... I had a great responce and the darn thing blinked out and is gone... I'll try to redo it.
If I'm kickin' back with the boys jammin covers of SRV, or a blues shuffle, maybe a Billy Joel tune or whatnot, we don't count. We feel it. We become it. We play...
However, I recently had a gig playing a very advanced score for a rock musical which had all sorts of very challenging parts. One song had alternating bars of 5/4 and 6/8. Once you get in that rythm it's easy to keep going and forgo counting, but when you have a specific hit or pick-up to make, or a 2 measure rest that you come back in with a fill 1/2 way through the bar.... well, you're NOT gonna play it WITHOUT counting beats.
My point to you is that the advice to "feel the music and NOT count" is WRONG.
I also feel that the advice to "count even the simplest beat mechanically" is also WRONG.
(I know nobody really said that, but it's illustrating a point)
The answer, simply, is BOTH.
If something is difficult, or you have a specific beat to make a specific hit... then count it out. But if you're jamming a familiar tune, then leave the math behind and enjoy yourself!
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