Groove
Yeah I know, not a two word answer!! ;-)
OK I've been working hard on timing - I tend to speed up in a riff, get it back for a while, then speed up again, etc. It is starting to come though. Next is the issue of the "groove". When I listen to recordings of myself against a backing track or from a jam, I can hear it's just not "in the groove" and I've had some comments from others when they listen and say something (which I appreciate). I think I can feel the groove when I listen to music (and I listen to a lot), I know I can hear that I'm not there as I listen to a recording of myself, but when I'm playing I just don't know. I know I focus on what I'm playing (the riff, the dynamics, the rhythm, the timing). Is it experience that takes you to that next level of groove. I'm just hitting year 3 of playing and have focussed on technique. Or do I just accept that some have got it and some (like me) don't!!!
Long question and probably a longer answer - maybe more appropriate for a private lesson?? ;-) Seriously though, is there some way of attacking this one??
Hank, we had a guitar player in our band who was all over the place timing-wise. He usually blamed it on the room acoustics and echos, but the rest of us thought it was more his $50-a-day drug habit ('80s dollars) and the fact that he just had no rhythm. He was a hell of a player, though, so we kept him on - and rigged up something to help.
We took the channel from the kick drum mic and sent it to him on an earpiece. We also tried as much as possible to keep him on the same platform as the drums so he could feel the beat through his feet. Obviously that wouldn't work for you to practice, but you might try a metronome in an earpiece. For some reason, having that sound directly in your ear seems to help. You might try the same with the jam tracks with a pair of headphones. On stage, see if you can get a feed to an earpiece as well.
Some might counter - what about the monitors? I've never had a problem with them, but some people seem to mix them up with the bounce in the room and it tends to throw them off. This gets worse if you're a performer that moves around the stage (which in a rock band is very common, but not so common in a blues band).
Then again...
...I might not have a clue what I'm talking about.
Great ideas for me to work on - Thanks!!
richard sleigh posted something on an excercise to do hope im not stepping on any toes here but the resource is there it has to do with stayng in rythem i thought it was crazy at first then it worked so cant go wrong with that
Yes, it is time... we all strive for it, and we all have issues with it... timing is the #1 challenge, at all levels. If I'm mad at myself when I play, it's almost always rhythm. The best way to focus on it is to work with a jam track and a metronome by itself... recording yourself and listening back very carefully for areas that consistently ahead or behind the beat, or even adding of or taking away of beats when playing with a metronome. We all struggle with it, but if you have the action plan of recording yourself and working on it daily, it does get better and better every year. Keep at it!