LiveMusic Posted March 26, 2001 Share Posted March 26, 2001 Do you recommend a metronome for practicing? If so, what brand/model? Or is there a website or something that provides an "online" metronome? > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mile Posted March 26, 2001 Share Posted March 26, 2001 Originally posted by LiveMusic: Do you recommend a metronome for practicing? If so, what brand/model? Or is there a website or something that provides an "online" metronome? The answer is yes!!! There is no better thing for gaining speed. I searched for long time for a metronome that wouldn't play the first tone louder or in higher pitch (of course you can set thatas well). I finaly found it. It's Korg Ma-20. It also features tones for tuning your guitar and you can tap in tempo of any song... It has output for ear phone and it runs on two AAA bateries (that's why it soooo slim)... This message has been edited by Mile on 03-26-2001 at 04:00 PM If it sounds god, just play the darn thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art Posted March 27, 2001 Share Posted March 27, 2001 I highly recommend practicing with a metronome. My favorite "metronome" is my drum machine. I just find it more interesting to play with a beat rather than a click. But if a click is what you want to hear, that can be done with a drum machine too. I like the fact that I can practice rock songs with a rock beat, Latin Jazz with a Bossa or Samba beat, etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted March 27, 2001 Share Posted March 27, 2001 Originally posted by LiveMusic: Do you recommend a metronome for practicing? If so, what brand/model? Or is there a website or something that provides an "online" metronome? I prefer simple dial-style metronomes that have tempo range markings. Why? Because there's an interesting phenomena associated with those ranges: they're not all equal in BPM from one range to another; they're based on human *perception*. What I usually tell my students is that it's fairly easy to increase the speed of a phrase from the bottom of one range to the next - say, moderato - but then it's markedly more difficult to push the speed over into the next range. This is what accounts for the phenomenon of it seeming like one goes through a period of getting "better", but then "hitting a wall". Knowing that before hand helps, and becoming aware of that phenomenon rhythmically is a good thing as well. BTW - I don't think you'll find that in a book anywhere... http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 28, 2001 Share Posted March 28, 2001 Originally posted by Chip McDonald: I prefer simple dial-style metronomes that have tempo range markings. Why? Because there's an interesting phenomena associated with those ranges: they're not all equal in BPM from one range to another; they're based on human *perception*. What I usually tell my students is that it's fairly easy to increase the speed of a phrase from the bottom of one range to the next - say, moderato - but then it's markedly more difficult to push the speed over into the next range. This is what accounts for the phenomenon of it seeming like one goes through a period of getting "better", but then "hitting a wall". Knowing that before hand helps, and becoming aware of that phenomenon rhythmically is a good thing as well. BTW - I don't think you'll find that in a book anywhere... http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Yes, it's one thing going from "moderato" to " conservativo", but that jump from "consevativo" to "liberalo" is something else... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif Seriously, right on, Chip, because the relation between those markings and the tempi is the product of an evolution, and tied IMO to natural human phenomena- heartbeat, walking pace, breathing. My favorite tempo marking was- one beat equals the time it takes to pierce 100 lotus petals with the point of a saber. (north Indian, if I remember right.) A sequencer is a great metronome, except for the fact that the computer needs to be on. You can set Cubase for example as a straight-up old-fashioned clicking metronome, or accent beats, or trigger other sounds, etc. You can also set up a whole practice session- so and so measures of quarter notes, going to eighths, 16ths, etc. fire it up then move away from the computer and practice away. But I've still got one of those wooden-cased wind-up pendulum deals, and it just never seems to go away or get outdated and IMO is the best for when you are working how you're going to breathe/phrase in case your fellow fellow musicians or conductor just plows on without breathing/phrasing with you. Maybe you can more easily feel the hundred lotus petals in the arc of the pendulum. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif -CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted March 28, 2001 Author Share Posted March 28, 2001 Uh... "dial-style metronome that have tempo range markings"... what does that mean? Digital devices such as the Korg? > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted March 29, 2001 Share Posted March 29, 2001 Originally posted by LiveMusic: Uh... "dial-style metronome that have tempo range markings"... what does that mean? Digital devices such as the Korg? No, the problem I have with the new digital metronomes is that while you can select any tempo range, you can't *see* the ranges themselves. The old-style metronomes (post wind-up) had rotating dials on them that you used to select the tempo from a range marked not only in beats per minute, but with their respective tempo ranges marked as well. So, A) on the dial you can see if you're at the beginning, middle or end of one of these ranges - important for the reasons I posted above - but also so you can get a feel for the phenomenon itself. It's something it would seem no one seems sensitive to. For instance, at the most primitive level you have fast, and slow... What's the break point tempo-wise? If that's the only way you can perceive things, then it's going to be very ambiguous in the middle, where "slow" is now "fast": that sensitivity to that area reflects a lot of maturity and *listening* done on the part of a musician. The funny thing is that adrenalin raises the breakpoint; and being tired lowers the breakpoint. It's an interesting kinesthetic phenomenon that I think is revealed as being more obvious when gets used to thinking in terms of knowing when one is crossing one of those boundaries. You can *feel* it; it's a human thing, which is why personally I think it's key to being a good musician. Now and then you'll hear someone's CD and while the music sounds "right", it doesn't feel right: they're playing on the wrong side of one of those boundaries. Knowing where the boundary is by feel allows that aspect to be a creative element. Trying to play *on* that boundary is even more interesting, because then that's when you get to really push and pull the feel dramatically with subtle shifts rhythmically. It's less dramatic in the middle of the tempo ranges because you're that much further from the lower/upper "feel" boundary. I think what makes a really good drummer - and why a drummer with basic chops can be more "pro" than a more technical one - is being able to choose a tempo right on one of those boundaries and *keep it there*, so that drags and pushes can be exploited the best. Again - I haven't seen that explained in a book anywhere, either. Stuff like that is why I'm a proponent of self-instruction if one is highly motivated with an intense curiousity and a fair amount of intelligence. http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted March 29, 2001 Author Share Posted March 29, 2001 Hey, Chip, do you know the names of any of these dial-type ones? Check this one out, even though it's not dial-type: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1419151395 Is that the type of marking you are writing about? P.S. Your comment about self-teaching if one is highly motivated, etc.... I definitely agree with that. Nothing can beat a curious mind and commitment. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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