Seriously, go get that metronome

aja

METRONOME!!!

After I got my trusty metronome, my playing improved from the first minute. I realized I had been doing something lazy all along - I would speed up certain notes in a bar to compensate for the difficult chord change that occurs at the end. This makes sense as it stops you from falling behind. BUT it makes you lazy since you will not try improve your chord changes (or hand or finger position changes etc...). This was very subtle but noticeable. Now, playing quarter or eighth notes in time forces you to do quick chord changes again.

And yes, the beeps are really annoying and eventually get imprinted on your brain. You even hear them in your sleep. You start singing beep-beep-beep-beep in the shower instead of House of the rising sun. You even have to set it back to 60bpm every night or your heart will keep going at 200bpm! But it is all worth it...

BTW, here is the one I got, the Korg MA-30. Feels like I payed a lot for it, but not sure what these things go for.

Guy-Onraet

aja wrote METRONOME!!!

After I got my trusty metronome, my playing improved from the first minute. I realized I had been doing something lazy all along - I would speed up certain notes in a bar to compensate for the difficult chord change that occurs at the end. This makes sense as it stops you from falling behind. BUT it makes you lazy since you will not try improve your chord changes (or hand or finger position changes etc...). This was very subtle but noticeable. Now, playing quarter or eighth notes in time forces you to do quick chord changes again.

And yes, the beeps are really annoying and eventually get imprinted on your brain. You even hear them in your sleep. You start singing beep-beep-beep-beep in the shower instead of House of the rising sun. You even have to set it back to 60bpm every night or your heart will keep going at 200bpm! But it is all worth it...

BTW, here is the one I got, the Korg MA-30. Feels like I payed a lot for it, but not sure what these things go for.

Haha, nice!

And yes, a metronome is a must.

Manfred-Klose

I tested out the korg in-ear metronome yesterday, and it really sucked, it had no volume control(haven't found it yet, i will go back and check it again just to make sure), and would probably cause tinnitus due to the loudness in the ear.

But other than that it have some pretty tight tempos even a few for jazz.

http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=421

DonovanB

I insist everyone I teach have a metronome.

To counter the beep-boredom I set up a drum loop on my pc and play with that. It's in time and a little more entertaining.

Dirk

Manfred Klose wrote I tested out the korg in-ear metronome yesterday, and it really sucked, it had no volume control(haven't found it yet, i will go back and check it again just to make sure), and would probably cause tinnitus due to the loudness in the ear.

But other than that it have some pretty tight tempos even a few for jazz.

http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=421

I have one of those. Works fine for now, but I probably will get something like the MA 30 sometime soon

JohnnyReggae

I have a Korg Multi-Effects unit that has 50 built in beat loops that you can speed up to 208bpm. Don't know what I would do without it as it has helped me so much with both learning and keeping time.

Keira-WitherKay

yeah to quote tommy emmaneul in one of his tutoriols he joked that he has yet to find a metronome that works properly ...they all speed up and slow down all the time........ hehehehhe

but seriously yeah metronomes are the way to go ... the idea is to teach yourself better internal time but without losing "human' feel..... cos if you play exactly to a metronome it does sound too metred.... and the live feel is missing.... thats why live drummers always sound better than a drum machine...(well good ones anyway ) so i suggest you use the metronome to improve your internal time...... and to do this i find doing simple but precise excercises are best.....

in my show i do a lot of percussion while i play and my sense of time is pretty good.... but i still practise with a metronome doing percussion rudiments regularly

also i use something the great but now deceased jazz guitarist emily remler (and lecturer at GIT) used to teach ..... which is "body clock" ever wondered why many jazz musicians swing and sway behind their instruments so much..... it's a technique called body clock... which simply means if you just tap your foot...it's an isolated motion... but if you move your entire body to the groove continually you will find it hard to play out of time... what you do is even before you play the first note .... you already swaying and moving your entire body to the groove.....then when you start to play and it enables you to place notes in intricate time since your entire body is feeling the groove.... basically it becomes almost impossible to play out of time....... i heard emily discuss it and tried it myself and it allows me to do so much percussively live ......

try it

so yeah use the metronome but don't let it be too dominant in your style.... live 'human" feel is what brings out the emotion in a piece... but use the metronome to sharpen your internal clock

peace and light
keira

aubs1

aja wrote ......... Feels like I payed a lot for it, but not sure what these things go for.

AAMOI...what did you pay for it?? But anyway, now that you've got it, does it matter? I never look at prices once I've bought something......we all know what happens, you find 10 places where you could have got it a helluva lot cheaper........then you become depressed......I hate being depressed, because then I go out and buy something to get over the depression again.....and the cycle repeats itself.......get it ???

[deleted]

Keira WitherKay wrote also i use something the great but now deceased jazz guitarist emily remler (and lecturer at GIT) used to teach ..... which is "body clock" ever wondered why many jazz musicians swing and sway behind their instruments so much..... it's a technique called body clock... which simply means if you just tap your foot...it's an isolated motion... but if you move your entire body to the groove continually you will find it hard to play out of time... what you do is even before you play the first note .... you already swaying and moving your entire body to the groove.....

Of course... I never thought of that. makes sense. No wonder Tommy Emmanuel always talks about the groove... Its from your body, not tapping the foot... ? Sorry but that simple thing just enlighted a somewhat rubbish day for me so far ?

aja

Manfred Klose wrote I tested out the korg in-ear metronome yesterday, and it really sucked, it had no volume control(haven't found it yet, i will go back and check it again just to make sure), and would probably cause tinnitus due to the loudness in the ear.

But other than that it have some pretty tight tempos even a few for jazz.

http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=421

It has no volume control AFAIK. Some people wear it on their shirt collar. I guess that Korg assumed that all guitarists and drummers are deaf anyway, so they wont hear anything below jumbo-jet-at-take-off levels...

aubs1 wrote
aja wrote ......... Feels like I payed a lot for it, but not sure what these things go for.
AAMOI...what did you pay for it?? But anyway, now that you've got it, does it matter? I never look at prices once I've bought something......we all know what happens, you find 10 places where you could have got it a helluva lot cheaper........then you become depressed......I hate being depressed, because then I go out and buy something to get over the depression again.....and the cycle repeats itself.......get it ???

I payed R200 for it, which seems a lot since it should be MUCH cheaper to make a metronome than a tuner. I thought that it was okay since it goes for $30 in the states. But anyway, at least it works...

Brentcgp wrote
Keira WitherKay wrote also i use something the great but now deceased jazz guitarist emily remler (and lecturer at GIT) used to teach ..... which is "body clock" ever wondered why many jazz musicians swing and sway behind their instruments so much..... it's a technique called body clock... which simply means if you just tap your foot...it's an isolated motion... but if you move your entire body to the groove continually you will find it hard to play out of time... what you do is even before you play the first note .... you already swaying and moving your entire body to the groove.....
Of course... I never thought of that. makes sense. No wonder Tommy Emmanuel always talks about the groove... Its from your body, not tapping the foot... ? Sorry but that simple thing just enlighted a somewhat rubbish day for me so far ?

That is great! I will try that more often, since my foot does its own thing anyway, or gets tired..

aubs1

aja wrote I payed R200 for it, which seems a lot since it should be MUCH cheaper to make a metronome than a tuner. I thought that it was okay since it goes for $30 in the states. But anyway, at least it works....

$30.00?? hell, so R200 is about right!!! Hope it works well for you.......

I have never used one, but think maybe it will help Eli......his timing sucks big time!!!! Hahahahaha ? ?

Heath

i went and bought one this afternoon (about all i can afford at the moment) , i have been threatening for ages to get one , i bought a cheap one for a 149 bucks it was a tuner as well .

singemonkey

Keira WitherKay wrote also i use something the great but now deceased jazz guitarist emily remler (and lecturer at GIT) used to teach ..... which is "body clock" ever wondered why many jazz musicians swing and sway behind their instruments so much..... it's a technique called body clock... which simply means if you just tap your foot...it's an isolated motion... but if you move your entire body to the groove continually you will find it hard to play out of time... what you do is even before you play the first note .... you already swaying and moving your entire body to the groove.....then when you start to play and it enables you to place notes in intricate time since your entire body is feeling the groove.... basically it becomes almost impossible to play out of time....... i heard emily discuss it and tried it myself and it allows me to do so much percussively live ......

Brilliant. That's something I'd kind of noticed at the back of my mind but never put my finger on.

I started using a metronome religiously in practice about a year ago. I could kick myself for all the wasted time before that.