The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Epistrophy
    I usually put metronome in quarter notes when playing ballads ...
    Same here for practice:


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by Geechnyc
    Same here for practice:

    Very complex and very well played. And, is that a Super400?
    The guitar sounds really nice as well.
    Excellent.

  4. #28

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    Thanks for your kind words: it's a 1973 Super 400 CES that I had refretted.

  5. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by Geechnyc
    Same here for practice:

    Yes, well played indeed, but music isn't so precise! What happens when you do it with expression?

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by ragman1
    Yes, well played indeed, but music isn't so precise! What happens when you do it with expression?
    Thank you! When I am not 'practicing with a metronome', then I might instead be performing the piece, in the hope that having worked with that timekeeping tool, which mercilessly exposes weaknesses in articulation and tendencies to rush or drag passages, will have enhanced my expressive ability.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Geechnyc
    Thank you! When I am not 'practicing with a metronome', then I might instead be performing the piece, in the hope that having worked with that timekeeping tool, which mercilessly exposes weaknesses in articulation and tendencies to rush or drag passages, will have enhanced my expressive ability.
    Absolutely. Of course it's fully possible to play with great expression without losing time. It's a sort of an anomaly really because you'd think that a lot of expressive pauses, emphases, dynamics, and so on, would take you outside the beat, but apparently they don't. I suppose they kind of hover around it. Playing rubato, of course, is different.

  8. #32

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    You should always practice with a metronome until you have such a strong internal tempo that you can mute it, then come back measures later and still be on the beat. Another tool is to turn the metronome down to 10bpm. If you can't stay on the beat, you need more practice.

  9. #33

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    I’ve practiced and recorded a lot with a metronome recently, and it’s got to the point where Stevie Wonder sounds out of time lol. Playing finally with other musicians is a shock too.

  10. #34

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    I thought this was an interesting video


    There is a note of controversy about using a metronome to practice. In fact not every musician endorses it. Many great musicians did not practice with a metronome and learned their time feel ‘on the bandstand’ with experienced older musicians and demanding dancers. And that’s not just old school players; Robert Glasper has expressed frustration at the metronome obsession of modern jazz edu.

    I suspect metronome practice became established in jazz education during the late 60s; but Tristano was already recommending it before then. (Whether or not Tristano’s empirical concept of time feel relates to African American bop is actually a complex and interesting issue.)

    Tristano at 100 | DO THE M@TH

    I would say that the competent modern musician develops the ability to play well on grid but also understands that metronomic time is not the last word, not always appropriate.... (also playing only with a click and make you drag, apparently.)

    Ballads are an interesting one, as no good ballad playing is metronomic; there’s always the human element in there. One important thing is to not speed up egregiously tbh, maybe a click can help ‘bed in’ a tempo until a player can play it with more feel.

    With slow metronome exercises (10bpm etc) I have noticed that I can synch a lot better with my voice or tapping a rhythm than with my guitar. That suggest that the problem is not my internal clock, but rather playing the instrument. Something about it can encourage me to lose the time if I’m not careful.

    Anyone else had this experience?

    There seem to be players out there who think they only need to work with a metronome. This is false. There’s more to it...