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Thread: Again with the tempo stuff

  1. #1

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    Question Again with the tempo stuff

    So I was also wondering how most of u practice with your metronomes? If u play ahead, with or after the click. And if anyone has any cool exercises that can help strengthen the inner clock. I heard about setting it to 30 bpm and going slow and mentally counting out the subdivisions. But does anyone else have any good tips or ideas that they would like to pass down I would really appreciate it! Gracias.

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    That's going to be a tough one. For me it's all internal. Not much I could teach you or give you any great insight. I don't even use a metro. I probably should but for the most part I'm in a band environment and we all pretty much keep each other in check.

    As far as if I used a metro ( I have ) I play to the click. I also try to think of other things to distract me and hopefully allow the inner motor to take over and lock in.

    An out of the box method would be to play a different instrument. Something where you have to keep time and that 2nd dimension of a different instrument might help hone your motor skills. Oh, look at that. I said a funny. Awesome.
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  3. #3

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    I'm with Bish on this 1. I have never played with a 'nome or click.

    I have, in my years of playing, heard, too loud, too soft, too much drums, too little drums, but, never once in any of the bands I've played in, has my timing been called into question.

    You will develope a sense of time, all good drummers do. A 'nome is not a cure all for all timing problems. It forces you to be rigid in your timekeeping, and that is not always a good thing.

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    I never had issues before with tempo. I used to keep time with my right hand or left foot. But now I play double pedal and I am playing metal at 170 to 190 bpms and so I hear I have been dropping to like 160bpm and certain guitar parts don't sound right that slow. I have been working on building the inner time keeping motor or "honing" if u will I was just wondering if someone has got a new interesting way of doing it that may not feel monotonous after an hour or 2 lol. Also im also trying to figure out how to the subdivision part of the metronome click to my benefit at speeds above 160bpm for practices and live playing. I have found that using a click to play with doesn't make me feel mechanical or restrict my own musical expression it actually helped I nearly double the amount of snare, tom tom and double pedal fills in each song it was great. Anyway again does someone have any ideas?

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    Hey GoyaDrumr I teach a few various methods with my classes.

    The first is playing a groove at say 160 bpm click, then cutting the bpm to 80, then cutting it to 40 bpm, then 20bpm, then 10 if you can! This way is given in a bit more detail here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiXE87DWaAg

    Secondly I'll have them attempting beat displacement to the click. This is all explained within Rob Brown's video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMMtkf8UpnQ

    Also try getting a metronome that can be muted at certain points of the pulse for example it will only play the pulse every two bars!

    There are others but i can't think of any off the top of my head.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    I like a lot of the exercises that the other people have mentioned so far. I'm someone that had to work very hard to develop a sense of time, it didn't come naturally to me. I like the exercises where you silence some of the beats in a metronome and try to keep time through the silence. I actually made a series of practice click tracks on my computer that start with a normal click and then slowly drop out one quarter note at a time until you're trying to keep time with only the downbeat of every other bar or every three bars. Some guys go higher than that, that's crazy hard.

    There's one other exercise that helped me out a ton. Put a click on very slowly (like 55 bpm) and then on a practice pad try to play first quarter notes directly along with it, then switch to eighth notes, then eighth note triplets, then sixteenth notes, then quintuplets, then sextuplets, then groups of seven (septituplets, I guess?), then 32nd notes, then work your way back down. Essentially you keep adding one more note that you're trying to fit in to one beat of pulse from the metronome, and you're trying to be able to switch from one subdivision to the next in perfect time, right off the bat. It's actually WAY harder than it sounds to make each change without rushing or dragging the first few notes, particularly in the odd groupings. It helped me out a lot in getting a more internal sense of time.
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  7. #7

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    i'll still practice and record to a click now and then but i'm with some of the other guys on the clock being all internal. it's a feel thing that depends on the music and the musicians you're playing with. that's the part that has to "click"...... i've played in bands where there were parts that were on a sequencer or the delays had to match up perfectly, so i played to a click for those parts, and i'd practice those parts to a click just to make sure they were solid. but even during a studio session the click for me is just a guide. most of the time that little bit of push and pull is what gives that pocket that the drums and bass sit in it's life. it's a good idea to be comfortable playing to a click, but it's much more important for everything to groove and be solid with the other members in the group. i get the sense that you're asking more about practice exercises on your own. i usually just concentrate on the problem areas. for me the hardest thing is to play a really simple part at a slow tempo... so if i'm having an issue with a particular song that i need to work on, i'll set the nome to be ridiculously subdivided and then gradually take the subdivisions away. other times when i've practiced with the metronome, i'll gradually turn it down. seemed to exercise my own internal clock. i don't do to many exercises with a click anymore. mainly because i don't have the time and i've always had a good natural sense of time. those are just a few things that i tried myself that seemed to help me.... i'm in no way an expert on the click and all i can really tell you about it is that it's not a bad idea to be comfortable playing with it... i try to think of it as playing with another musician, i guess. maybe like playing with a bass player with incredible meter haha... experimentation will lead you to the right exercises that work for you. there's not really a right or wrong way to practice to a click.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    I figure if perfection is all that important, then just push a button, sit back and let a machine play the music.

    all the best...

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    Quote Originally Posted by kay-gee View Post
    I figure if perfection is all that important, then just push a button, sit back and let a machine play the music.

    all the best...
    I don't think perfection is the goal when working on timing... there's very little musicality involved there. Its about building confidence with groove and feel. Having a real in depth knowledge of timing means that when you play that 4 on the floor groove it sounds a 1000 times better.

    That subdivision exercise is brilliant dt344

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    Are you sure you are slowing down? Have you checked yourself against a metronme, or is this your guitar player saying it again? Most drummers with timing issues dont slow down they speed up.

  11. #11

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    Default Re: Again with the tempo stuff

    I play music on my radio, in my car and around the house all the time. I can hear a song, play on the steering wheel, go pay for my gas, come back out and restart the car and usually be within one beat of where I left off (most times I'm right on.). Even after talking to the cashier and picking out a pack of gum! I practice it and make a game out of doing it all the time. My wife thinks it's scary crazy how I can do that. Maybe you could try doing that as well? It's fun if nothing else. I think it really helps with my time keeping skills.
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