Tempo do you really have to keep it steady when solo?

[Pnewsom]

The thing that makes a song feel good, makes you tap your toe to it, or makes you want to dance, is called Rhythm, the Groove, or the Pocket. It comes from a repeating pattern of beats that are applied over time, which is measured in beats per minute. This measure is expressed as tempo. Tempo is not groove.

However, a groove or pocket that has a certain feel to it can usually only exist or 'float' with in a certain tempo range. Exceeding or falling below that range too much starts to weaken the feel of it.

So, steady 'tempo' or 'time' is important to keep the groove alive, but can be adjusted slightly to maintain or enhance the pocket.

Most players who speed up, do so by rushing the notes. Often this occurs by not giving enough time to last note of each bar. It is a groove killer. Practice with a metronome can help.

No matter whether you play solo or with others, the key is to develop a groove for each song. It will let you know by how it feels if your time is moving around too much.

[Alpione]

I believe it's important first to learn to play in solid tempo before varying it significantly. For the OP that's not a problem as he's played in orchestras and bands, but as someone else said it's very common to see solo players be a little ragged as far as time and it can come off as sloppy.

That's my problem at this point. I can play all of the pieces I've worked up, but I have to be really careful not to be all over the place time-wise. And, as always, the faster I go the more mistakes I make (particularly with my picking hand.)

PS - Great playing, Howard!

Adam

[zhunter]

Can you play the songs to a steady beat?

hunter

[MBE]

Playing to a steady tempo is an essential skill. Once you have that skill mastered, you may vary your tempo for the sake of expression - but it should be a deliberate choice, and not an excuse to stop practicing your ability to keep time.

[jpbat]

Great topic.
Great topic (yes, I said it two times)

An unusual number of great answers to the OP, too.
Not a lot to add which have not been said already.

Playing with tempo must be made on purpose, so that implies that you are able to be steady when you want (steady like people in the room tap the foot and nod the head and dance), and you are able to play elegant rubato when you want (you're telling a story and people listen).

Please do it.

Drum machines have their use. You're not one.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Gypsyblue

I agree.

A resounding "NO"!

I do think that playing in tempo is a skill that one should strive to achieve...just like playing in tune.

But I'll take feeling and expression over the strict time of a metronome or click track...long as you're playing music worth listening to.

I like music that breathes and sounds human.

This^

learning to keep tempo is actually something I have to work on when playing solo. It is a bit easier if you are naturally good at rhythms and when playing with a group, but a little harder to be as disciplined solo. But manipulating tempo when playing solo can enhance your dynamics,, and sometimes when reading sheet music it even requires one to play "freely"

[SFCRetired]

There has been a lot of songs recorded by many people with different tempos. Play it the way you want to play. Everyone else does.

[RustyAxe]

In my world the drummer sets and maintains the tempo, and I've never played with a drummer who would/could chase an arbitrary, variable tempo set by someone else in the band. I'm playing in a trio (drummer-less) now where the guitarist (I'm on bass) mixes up the tempo here and there. I'm slowly getting him to realize that the bass is the rhythm section, and he should follow MY lead, otherwise I'll be a shade behind where I need to be to drive the song.

You can do what you want when solo, but it's important to learn to play well with others if playing with others is what you want to do.

[jpbat]

Also, you can play a steady rhythm, achieve a groove, be in the pocket… and play with the place of the melody notes inside that groove.
Phrasing the melody differently when keeping a steady groove (if the tempo is sloppy, that doesn't work), is a great musical effect that helps the storytelling a good deal.

[djg]

To the OP -- maybe you've answered your own question (or maybe you knew the answer from your days as a violinist). If you are doing something musical, it's all good, or it should be. If it's not musical, it's something else.

[Kettil]

Variable tempo due to sloppiness is to be avoided, whereas for emotive purposes it is to be encouraged (in moderation).

[mdutr0]

Also, as far as your audience is concerned, most of them won't notice unless you get WAY off. Especially if, as with most audiences, they are mostly non-musicians.

[westman]

your answer is in your post, when you play solo YOU get to be conductor and orchestra - all the dynamics (tone, volume, rhythm ) are down to your judgment of how you want to express the piece, and expression is where the art is.
There enough one dimensional music and players out there be an individual.
If your instruments up to it, throw some ghost notes out as well.

[Jwills57]

Hey, Guitar Friends--I think we should all strive to play in a "groove" when playing solo; this doesn't mean thumb on the base every beat/two beats, whatever. But every song I play has a certain groove, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, sometimes straight time, sometimes ragged time. I try to find the "groove" and stay in the groove. The biggest problem we solo guitarists have is rushing, not letting a piece breath a little. I would recommend listening to players like Ed Gerhard and David Hamburger, two guys who can play really slowly and still sound fantastic. By the way I still struggle with this a lot, so I'm not suggesting that I have discovered the magic water, so to speak. Best, zjack

[crikey]

I think if you have learned to keep decent tempo in stage settings and can do that at-will, and when needed very well, then it's okay to vary if that's where your song goes. In fact in some cases it's an element of expression that you have earned to break the "rule" of tempo. I wouldn't over-do it though...

Too many music entertainers never learn the rules before breaking them, and I think most audiences sense that as amatuerish and/or having bad "motor skils."