Playing in time

[Kiwi]

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='266537' date='Aug 20 2008, 07:02 PM']How could I?
I'm usually lurking while you're all asleep over there on your side of the planet.
Always keeping one eye on the Theory and Technique page, I am...
[/quote]
Don't be a stranger dude As an aside, does Duane "Dawg" Chapman make himself known around Hilo much since the Mexico deportation fiasco? I know Hawaii's a small place and all that.

[GonzoBass]

Nah, "Dawg" is on another island.
(Oahu- Known for Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, traffic, concrete, etc. We call it "Town".)


We've got UFC champion [url="http://www.bjpenn.com/"]BJ Penn[/url] over here on the Big Island though
and a lot more country.





I'm always around,
but I will try to post more CK.

[BassMunkee]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, I only read the headlines!
It might be the type of metronome sound you are using that's the problem, if it's very undifferentiated then it your ears don't have as much to "key on" as it were.
I use clicktracks quite a lot, one way or another and found them to be very useful on the whole, but more often than not, for a timing track I'll knock up a kick/snare or a closed/open hat type thing as it provides more differentiation, if you have a decent metronome or drum machine you can add groove or "humanisation" into the track anyway.
(cakewalk has a very good built-in metronome FWIW).
Just to throw my ten pence worth into the click track debate - (if there is one) - I think click tracks can be very useful live, if you're after something a lot more mathematically accurate where you are sticking to an absolute rythm with no deviation then that's very useful.
It's not all about blues and jazz and swing...

[GonzoBass]

In college we had a teacher who had us clap to the metronome.

If you're on,
you don't hear the click at all.

It's harder than it sounds.
Try it once!

[The Funk]

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='270781' date='Aug 27 2008, 09:21 AM']In college we had a teacher who had us clap to the metronome.

If you're on,
you don't hear the click at all.

It's harder than it sounds.
Try it once![/quote]

It is hard at first but eventually you learn how to use a click properly and not have it get in your way.

The hardest part of playing to a click is actually setting the right tempo in the first place. That might sound dumb but it's true.

[BassMunkee]

[quote]The Funk
The hardest part of playing to a click is actually setting the right tempo in the first place. That might sound dumb but it's true.[/quote]
QFT +1

[2wheeler]

Thanks for all the great replies. The one about making the metronome click disappear is a particularly good exercise, from what I can tell so far. Yes, it is hard!

I have tracked part of the problem to string crossing, so I am specifically working on that in my metronome practice. Things seem to be improving already so that's quite encouraging.

Also I now have a good drummer to practice with. He is happy to work with me on some really basic exercises. We both agree with the post about having a stripped down rhythm to force you to make your own timing.

For what it's worth I think this is a great forum and next time I hit a wall I will be right back here.