How important is tempo?

[SpaceNorman]

BS. No matter who you are or how far you've gotten or how long you've played, the ONLY thing that can tell you where you are in time when you practice alone is the metronome. You don't practice with it exclusively, but it's damn important - period.

 

+ a bunch to this! Although I don't use the classic metronome ... however I almost always punch up an appropriate stock drum beat on my RD700SX when I'm practicing. Nothing crisps up my phrasing and my overall playing than the time I spend doing that. I'm at the point that I jot down the pattern and tempo# for everything that I add to my master song list so that I have it at my fingertips when practicing.

[Eric Jx]

I probably should play against a metronome more than I do.

 

However, my drummer won't be mistaken for a metronome. Some of his fills aren't crisply executed, and he doesn't return exactly on the downbeat.

 

However he is....consistent...in his inaccuracies, and I've learned to lock into his playing style. The bassist also doesn't have a problem playing in his pocket.

 

So instead of fighting him, I've accepted him and work with what he gives me.

[J. Dan]

So instead of fighting him, I've accepted him and work with what he gives me.

 

That's a skill I think a lot of people lack. I've struggled with it myself. Our drummer is pretty tight, but in real life, there WILL be the occasional drifts/shifts and part of playing live is being able to listen and play together.

 

A good example of a song like this is Blondie "One way or another", when it goes into the part towards the end where the organ does the 16th chords. You figure, from the first hit of the drums, I hit 4 chords before the next downbeat. That comes right at a time where our drummer tends to slow down the tempo a shade. So first, I have to anticipate his tempo, then when he comes in on the downbeat, whatever shade I may be off, I have to correct the next 4 until I'm matched. Coming out of it, he tends to speed back up - meanwhile the keys are still doing the 16ths. So after adjusting to a steady pattern to match his tempo, I have to slightly speed it up (while also singing "where I can see it all, find out who you call"). Incidentally, I think the tempo is supposed to stay the same through that whole part, but I've played it with 4 different drummers now who ALL slow down there to varying degrees. I had a hard time when we first started playing it, but now between anticipation, and just listening and locking into the few drum hits on the downbeats, we're pretty tight.

 

Incidentally, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but there's a really good article in this month's Keyboard Mag about practicing to a metronome - timely.

[Eric Jx]

A good example of a song like this is Blondie "One way or another

 

Isn't that a 70's song??

[J. Dan]

A good example of a song like this is Blondie "One way or another

 

Isn't that a 70's song??

 

Yep - released in '78, hit the charts in '79. Re-released in '81 on greatest hits. So, yes, we're cheating a little on that one. We also cheat on "My Sharona", which was released in '79 but didn't hit the charts until '80.