Timing
Fri, 08/09/2024 - 22:39
Any tips about counting while playing
thanks
Sat, 08/10/2024 - 23:26
#2
Timing
Feel and body movement is how I've been working. Then got a little lost on long holds. I've never thought about the visual approach. I'll have go, thank you
Hello Roger. There are many ways to go about it. Here are some that work well (experiment to see which works best for you)...
Verbally Counting In Your Head
As you play, count... "1 2 3 4," etc. If you're playing 5 draw for four beats for example, I typically won't count "1," since I'm busy doing the action of playing that note, but I'll feel it in my body. So, I feel beat one as I play that 5 draw, and then count in my head "2 3 4."
Visually Counting In Your Head
I'm not sure if this happens in a different part of the brain, but when I'm working on playing or transcribing a very complex rhythm, I can better keep count by visualizing numbers as I play.
Counting With Your Feet
If you tap your left foot for beat 1, and then the right for beat 2, and then repeat, you get beats 1 and 3 on the left foot and 2 and 4 on the right foot (what we call the back beat in blues). This is a tactile, and intuitive way to count that works well for some, and is very confusing for others. Either way, you'll have to work on this for a while to see if this works for you, since the action of your feet have to be automatic so that your mind can focus on other things.
No Counting... All Feel
Don't count... get hundreds of reps with the music (with small section on loop for study) until you can feel the rhythm. This is typically how blues musicians have done it. Just make sure not to play on top of the music too much... listen once, play a couple times, listen once, play a couple of times... the listening is where you make your error correction.