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No-one can answer that. I am an enigma to science.
Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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05-01-2026 12:02 PM
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TBH so long as you can hear/feel the rhythm and where you end up in a phrase, the other pitches aren't so important. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
I find myself transcribing like that, at least at first. Notes are easier to fill in once you have the phrase. Maybe an argument for not slowing things down unless you absolutely have to.
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Practising with the DAW and obsessing with being milliseconds late or milliseconds early gave me the kick in the arse that I needed.
Because I could see where I was in the grid, I could:
1. finally see the discrepancy between what I was imagining as being on time vs actually being on time
2. diagnose what it was in my picking/fretting hand that was causing me to rush or to create inconsistent time
3. devise a way to fix my picking/fretting hand problems
4. create mini technical games/challenges where I would record myself placing notes accurately (e.g. recording only 1 or 2 bars of myself strumming or picking a note consistently at the 2nd triplet of each quarter note or at the 4th sixteenth of each quarter note); once i have my quick recording, i can review immediately what went wrong and it's still fresh in my memory - was I counting/feeling the subdivision right? was I connecting that feeling with my fingers right?
5. teach myself to play some milliseconds behind the beat and teach my body what that felt like
As a hobbyist, the DAW has helped me improve quickly. I don't use the DAW all the time. I use it about once or twice a week for a few minutes to practise.
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Tapping out from this thread.
Maybe I'll bring back the ear training journal?
Then we can get back to people telling me that I'm wasting my time practicing shit
What I was talking about with tools vs. crutches applies to a DAW as well as the metronome.
I like what Pamosmusic said here:
I always have my young 'uns (and not so young) go
"in your ear" -- so can you hear the rhythm you're about to play
"on your body or in your voice" -- can you sing it or clap it or tap it ... with rhythm, I think on your body is better and with feet thumping out the pulse is maybe best.
then "on your instrument."
That's good pedagogy and it encourages independence for students of all ages
I didn't get the memo, aren't most of us folk using the jazz guitar forum learning and playing jazz standards? That's certainly my focus, whether I am studying Barry Harris or Jimmy Raney. I might be mistaken, but a lot of the song threads are about old songbook standards, hardbop, and some Wayne Shorter tunes.
Some of us have professional gigs. Some of us--like me--do jam sessions and play smaller gigs. Some play with our heroes. So for playing standards and straight ahead jazz... I'm right @Christian? (Hate @'ing people, but the quote method is cumbersome on my laptop--I think I might be the only one with font formatting issues on the website).
For those of us learning how to play jazz standards so we can play with others, is using a DAW best practice? If the usual advice is "practice how you play" then how do you access the visuals and fractions of a second that a DAW provides--on stage? Sounds less feasible than using a metronome all the time and expecting magic on stage when you are playing with a human drummer. These are tools, but they can so easily become crutches. Took me a while to carve out time where I wasn't using any metronome or backing track in my practice--because I want to "practice how I play."
Last edited by PickingMyEars; 05-01-2026 at 02:38 PM.
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Isn't that the point of online discourse? To have emotionally driven one sided debates. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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Yes, very good, that's similar to how I use the DAW grid/metronome, as a visual tool to check my time, but not even every week. Originally Posted by brent.h
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As you’re fond of pointing out, the usual advice isn’t always the best advice.For those of us learning how to play jazz standards so we can play with others, is using a DAW best practice? If the usual advice is "practice how you play" then how do you access the visuals and fractions of a second that a DAW provides--on stage?
Sounds less feasible than using a metronome all the time and expecting magic on stage when you are playing with a human drummer. These are tools, but they can so easily become crutches. Took me a while to carve out time where I wasn't using any metronome or backing track in my practice--because I want to "practice how I play."
But putting that aside for a moment, does that mean you should always play with a drummer? Always play in a bar? Only practice when there are people complaining so loudly about their food that you can’t hear the bass player?
No.
What if someone told you they wanted to play with a stronger, more even pulse and be able to subdivide more confidently and cleanly. If they’re to practice how they play, then what exactly would help them to ensure that their practice would look that way?
A metronome for a lot of people. Apparently a DAW for others. Trying to invalidate the practice strategies that work for someone else generally gets you a little less mileage than trying to understand them.
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For me, DAW use is a necessity because of my circular picking style.
Typical standard alternate picking or downstroke picking or gypsy picking involves wrist motion. It's much easier to keep time with relatively larger wrist movements than the finger-thumb movements I use, which are so small and so hard to get in time and in sync with the beat. This picking style allows you to move across strings quickly, and sometimes too quickly that you end up rushing.
Personally, I simply need to use the DAW during practice sessions to make sure my picking is on point.
In other news, I've been re-learning some tunes by strumming my melodies (harmonised with some triads, thirds, or sixths) like how banjoists might do in a trad jazz setting. I've found that it's slightly easier to keep better time than picking.
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To some it’s a bug, to some it’s a feature Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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honest question. can you carry a tune? because this sounds like a hobby in itself. not trying to be mean or anything. Originally Posted by brent.h
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we do sort of underestimate how good singing fly me to the moon in time with your gait while you snap on two and four can be for your swing feel Originally Posted by djg
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Sometimes if you want to swing you just have to be okay with being “that guy.”
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Now why is that so much easier to do than play it along to the 'nome set at 2 & 4? Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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Try singing Anthropology while clapping the 2-3 clave
Now try singing the clave while playing it…
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i learned to play time from other people i played with. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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Yes, but I don't think I can convince you. Originally Posted by djg
Maybe you misread or misinterpreted my comment. When I said 'as a hobbyist' I meant as a hobbyist of this music in general, not a hobbyist of this technical DAW thing. I'm not a fan of doing technical stuff like practising scales, arps, timing, etc. I don't like it because it's effortful, requires lots of concentration, and it's not fun. But I do a bit of it very intensely in small amounts because it's necessary sometimes. It's like commuting to work. No one likes it, but we accept that it's necessary.
I know you weren't being mean, but man, what a question to ask. Feels like can't I do anything right in my life, even playing this music as an unschooled amateur.
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Yes, I'm singing all the time too. Everywhere I go, I'm always either tapping out all four beats with my fingertips on my thumb or tapping my heels on 1 and 3.
Yes, I learn time from playing with other people too during my weekly jam sessions.
I don't just learn about time in front of a computer software for goodness sake.
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Brent, don’t you dare leave. You are an asset to this forum.
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Haven’t gotten there yet. But, I’m ready to back burner Moose the Mooch. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Which do you think I should hit next? Anthropology or Confirmation
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sure that too. Originally Posted by djg
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Berklee funk is the apex of Western civilisation and I’m tired of pretending it’s not
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sorry. i deleted that post. i didnt mean to pick on anyone. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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For best results, attach electrode to drummer?.
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i am sorry. i'm usually too blunt for my own good and other's comfort. Originally Posted by brent.h
it is my belief that mainstream jazz (and i think you love pre-war jazz) is folk music. a good place for an unschooled lover of the music, regardless how tight he is on the milliseconds. i have wasted many hours chasing ghosts.
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Because you’ve been walking with rock solid time for several decades. Relatively speaking, the guitar thing is new. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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