Is developing an internal 'metronome' essential to play the guitar properly?

[TJE"]

Obviously nearly everyone can count to 4, but instinctive timing may involve being very much aware of the micro second gaps between 1-2-3-4, and keeping them consistent, before even thinking about anything else to do with guitar playing.

Or is this a dictatorship of overthinking?

[HodgdonExtreme]

I say no. There are a lot of tunes I love that were not performed in perfect time. For example, Dead Flowers by Townes Van Zandt.

I think imperfect timing adds humanity to music in some cases.

There are definitely good reasons to be able to keep great time, and it's something I think guitarists (or any other musician) should practice - but I don't think great timing is "essential" to play guitar "properly".

Properly can mean a lot of different things.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TJE"

Obviously nearly everyone can count to 4, but instinctive timing may involve being very much aware of the micro second gaps between 1-2-3-4, and keeping them consistent, before even thinking about anything else to do with guitar playing.

Or is this a dictatorship of overthinking?

Hi TjE

I'm normally the metronome in small ensembles, because my friend/gigging partner rushes everything - and even more-so when he's playing live in front of an audience.

I've played music since 3rd (now 71 yrs old), and have done years of wood-shedding with a metronome. It's no longer required…I just remember tempos.

[RustyAxe]

Depends if one plans to play with others. Solo, anything goes if that's how you hear and play it. Ensemble, everyone needs to be on the same page (beat). I played bass for a year or two in a trio in which the lead singer/guitarist was all over the place with tempo and timing. Torture.

Our country band leader (been with him for 10 years now) is getting on in years (just turned 80!) and his timing is getting irregular. We love him, so we tolerate it ... besides, he's the guy that gets us 30-40 gigs a year. We just roll with it, and no one seems to notice.

And just another thought ... it's one thing to be able to keep perfect time and tempo and depart for artistic reasons. It's another to play with loose time and tempo because one cannot keep it tight.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I try to play along with some Jackson Browne solo stuff. He doesn't have it.

[BallisticSquid]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

Depends if one plans to play with others. Solo, anything goes if that's how you hear and play it. Ensemble, everyone needs to be on the same page (beat). I played bass for a year or two in a trio in which the lead singer/guitarist was all over the place with tempo and timing. Torture.

Our country band leader (been with him for 10 years now) is getting on in years (just turned 80!) and his timing is getting irregular. We love him, so we tolerate it ... besides, he's the guy that gets us 30-40 gigs a year. We just roll with it, and no one seems to notice.

And just another thought ... it's one thing to be able to keep perfect time and tempo and depart for artistic reasons. It's another to play with loose time and tempo because one cannot keep it tight.

Not much worse when a group is playing at different tempos. What I think practicing with a metronome teaches you is to follow the timing of something else. A tight band can follow eachother as the tempo fluxuates.

Once you get a tight sense of timing, you can fool with it by pushing or dragging it ever so slightly to add a bit of spice. To do that and make it work, you need to have a strong sense of the beat.

[Wags]

IMHO practicing with a metronome is essential. Not necessarily on songs, but rather on rudiments, scales, licks, etc. Over time your internal sense of time will develop. At that point when you decide to alter time to augment your performance it will be by design, not technical deficit.

[lowrider]

You can do a lot of things wrong and, if you have good timing you'll still sound pretty good.

If you have bad timing, you can do everything else right and you still sound pretty bad!

[Veeing Fly]

Yes. Yes it is.

[Le Chef]

We all rush if we don't use a metronome. Of course, at some point you have to turn it off to perform.

Tommy Emmanuel uses one religiously. I ain't arguing with Tommy.

[Bridgepin]

If you plan on playing with other people it is a must.

[BluesBelly]

Your internal metronome will develop in time. (Pun intended).
To help your cause along, tap your foot and count out beats to every song you hear, be it on the radio in your car, on tv, in church, whenever, wherever, there is music.
If you are new to this idea Listen to songs and artists that are drum and bass heavy for starters. For instance George Thorogood and ZZ Top are prime examples of a heavy loud beat that is easy to follow and mostly in 4/4 time so its easy to track.
After a short period of time this will Become automatic and will transfer to your playing.

Blues

[JTFoote]

It's always been essential for me. If you don't know where the beat is, how do you know when to play? (And when not to play?) I sing and play and compose music/lyrics, sometimes all at the same time. Managing those three (or four) elements, especially while being improvisational, requires a solid internal tempo and beat that varies very little. Especially if I want to be subtle in the variations I'm creating. Otherwise, everything falls apart, and I can't concentrate. Plus, playing out of time, for me, at least, is fatiguing. I can't relax, and what should be comfortable becomes an internal "fight". Even breathing, when the tempo and beat vary, can be harder.

This probably explains why, when playing in groups, I tend to "be" the metronome. I can't begin to tell you about how many times I've counted off drummers, and then struggled to keep the beat steady. It may be the norm for tempos to flux, but that doesn't make playing easier, IMHO.

... JT

[TJE"]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

I say no. There are a lot of tunes I love that were not performed in perfect time. For example, Dead Flowers by Townes Van Zandt.

.

But would someone like Van Zandt first have to learn what perfect time is, in order to creatively depart from it?

[lowrider]

Originally Posted by TJE"

But would someone like Van Zandt first have to learn what perfect time is, in order to creatively depart from it?

Yes, I was told exactly that about Jerry Jeff Walker, who is from the same time and place as TVZ.

Your timing won’t always be perfect but you can’t be all over the place.