Need Advise . Timing excersises

Bakuna · #1 09-02-2011, 11:22 AM

Hi all ,

i'm new to this forum. i need your valuable advice on timing .

my timing isn't good , i always knew that but never had courage to sit down to
a metronome. i started working with metronome for about 3 or so month now and improvements started to pay off . i want to continue to work on it until i get that click in my body and it becomes second nature . i play jazz so you know how important timing is.

my main question is , i start practicing scales riffs and etc at slow lets say 80 bpm and gradually increase tempo by 5 measures increments until i tempo get hard on me. so if i'm playing excercises very cleanly and comfortably at lets say 120bpm , when i sit down to same excersie next day do i have to start from 80bpm and make my way up by small increments up to 120? or i should start from 120bpm and try progress further up?
i understand that every player has his own ways but i want to know what is a
proper , academic way of doing it.

your advice will be very helpful

Thx in advance!

Bakuna · #2 09-03-2011, 10:29 AM

come one , guys . nobody has anything to say?

kenbennett · #3 09-03-2011, 10:47 AM

Don't forget to practice songs too!

I don't know the proper academic way. Why go back to the beginning and start over every day? Even if you start at the beginning each day, why not increase in larger increments? Or maybe you want to start each day a little under your top speed from the previous day.

Jazzaluk · #4 09-03-2011, 10:51 AM

The metronome is a good thing but there are pitfalls that can affect your phrasing. Have you tried setting the metronome on half speed an think "two and four" instead of all four beats? This is a popular practice technique that does not hamper your swing feel (as much).

I think that playing exercises has it limitations. You should also play tunes, impovise a bit and record them without any backtrack to see how the groove and pulse sounds. It is very revealing. Tap your foot to the recording and you will see what I mean.

Allot of good and great players don't advocate metronomes. They say, just tap your foot and be very critical of yourself. Humans aren't machines and some modulation of beats is desirable for a natural sound, but you should definitely be able to target the "one" at any time in the tune.

Some things to try. I'm sure there will be other opinions.

Karel · #5 09-03-2011, 10:57 AM

Just do some basic warmups before you begin.
I do these: Guitar Technique and Warm Up Exercises with Tabs

Once i get comfortable playing a scale at a tempo of lets say 120 i crank it up to +5. I keep going like that and i wait as long as i need to to fasten the metronome.. Its important to play at an even pace and to play clean, you only want to set the metronome beat faster once you can play it cleanly, but you dont have to build up from 80bpm evry time..

m78w · #6 09-03-2011, 12:55 PM

I put together a few articles that deal with working on rhythm, time and accents in jazz. They might be useful, check them out.

Rhythms for Jazz Guitar Soloing | MattWarnockGuitar.com

http://www.mattwarnockguitar.com/pra...elodic-accents

Bakuna · #7 09-04-2011, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzaluk

The metronome is a good thing but there are pitfalls that can affect your phrasing. Have you tried setting the metronome on half speed an think "two and four" instead of all four beats? This is a popular practice technique that does not hamper your swing feel (as much).

I think that playing exercises has it limitations. You should also play tunes, impovise a bit and record them without any backtrack to see how the groove and pulse sounds. It is very revealing. Tap your foot to the recording and you will see what I mean.

Allot of good and great players don't advocate metronomes. They say, just tap your foot and be very critical of yourself. Humans aren't machines and some modulation of beats is desirable for a natural sound, but you should definitely be able to target the "one" at any time in the tune.

Some things to try. I'm sure there will be other opinions.

Thx for your valuable advices .

i normally set metronome 1/3rd beat but i'll try 2/4 i'll experiment with it.
i do improvise and record what i play , you're recording talks truth and sometimes shocking to hear that what you thing is plain isn't what it is. i'm getting better at footling it was difficult when i started it . i know i have groove in me but i need to be able to perform it . before i started using metronome i didn't even know how to count so its getting better but lots of work ahead .

thx for exercise suggestion Matt , looks interesting , i'll try'em out

than you all !!!

Jazzaluk · #8 09-04-2011, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bakuna

i normally set metronome 1/3rd beat but i'll try 2/4 i'll experiment with it.

Just a note of clarification The idea is to set the metronome at half speed with no accent beat so you only hear two beats over a four beat measure. Then you think of each metronome beat as the 2 and 4. Basically it aims to represent the the snare drum or back beat. (if you are practicing at 120 set to 60). I find the exercise is more effective when practicing melodies, not scales or exercises.

It's a little tricky to get started and lock your ear into the back beat but it is a good exercise to add to your practice. You might find that you flip the beat sometimes during your practice and revert to hearing it as 1 and 3. Time to stop and start over.

Bakuna · #9 09-04-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzaluk

Just a note of clarification The idea is to set the metronome at half speed with no accent beat so you only hear two beats over a four beat measure. Then you think of each metronome beat as the 2 and 4. Basically it aims to represent the the snare drum or back beat. (if you are practicing at 120 set to 60). I find the exercise is more effective when practicing melodies, not scales or exercises.

It's a little tricky to get started and lock your ear into the back beat but it is a good exercise to add to your practice. You might find that you flip the beat sometimes during your practice and revert to hearing it as 1 and 3. Time to stop and start over.

i don't understand 1 thing . do start playing on 2nd beat? like offbeat?

moray · #10 09-04-2011, 01:02 PM

In this Video Emily Remler eyxplains it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAVQ3BOINaQ&feature=player_embedded#!

It can be hard at first but it becomes second Nature fast.

It is really fun to make the Metronome swing.

Jazzaluk · #11 09-04-2011, 04:18 PM

Thanks moray ... That should clarify things for Bakuna. Much better than I could.

Dazz · #12 09-05-2011, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moray

In this Video Emily Remler eyxplains it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAVQ3BOINaQ&feature=player_embedded#!

It can be hard at first but it becomes second Nature fast.

It is really fun to make the Metronome swing.

great vid!

Bakuna · #13 09-05-2011, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moray

In this Video Emily Remler eyxplains it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAVQ3BOINaQ&feature=player_embedded#!

It can be hard at first but it becomes second Nature fast.

It is really fun to make the Metronome swing.

thx for the vid . i gave it a go yesterday . it was hard to play and count at the same time but as you gays say i'll take time. i'll keep trying! i'll come back with my thoughts as soon as it will start coming through , should be fun...