I am frustrated with my lack of timing.

[djh1765]

I agree with everything that has been said here.

I'm convinced my problem is not knowing the songs by heart. If I did it would be one less thing to have to concentrate on.

I'm making an effort to learn all the songs I do but that is going to be a chore. There are a lot of them.

At 76 learning comes slow.

One at a time.
djh

[SpiderTrap]

If you're learning the songs from reading words and chords on paper , try to always look ahead at least 2 chord changes while playing, to be ready to make those changes on time . So they arent a surprise. After you play them so many many times , they become second nature, but there's always a Bm or some weird chord that you wont expect...to be there .. Good Luck ...

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by djh1765

I agree with everything that has been said here.

I'm convinced my problem is not knowing the songs by heart. If I did it would be one less thing to have to concentrate on.

I'm making an effort to learn all the songs I do but that is going to be a chore. There are a lot of them.

At 76 learning comes slow.

One at a time.
djh

If you're convinced that your age may be hampering your learning process then I'd suggest learning one song down so cold you can do it in your sleep. Then practice your timing. Then repeat.

I also believe that a positive attitude will certainly help to improve your process despite your age. I've seen a few of my older students make wonderful strides by adapting this mindset.

Best of luck to you amigo.

[Yeah]

Sometimes singing lessons should help, breathing the wrong way to be able to sing is a very normal way to loose timing. You should practice just singing with the beat and taking the short air breaths on time.

[jthorpe]

I think this is a common thing for a lot of people, myself certainly included!

I find that my timing is off when I practice a new fingerstyle piece (I'm focussing on alternating bass at the moment) after learning the arrangement my thumb isn't as rock solid as I'd like!

I've downloaded a metronome app on my iPhone and this seems to be helping! I tap my foot and pump the bass along to the metronome until I can do it solidly at a slower tempo, then increase the speed after a couple of successful plays through the piece!

Wouldn't like to think I had to play exercises to learn to stay in time, I prefer to do all my learning within songs where possible! Spent too much time noodling through exercises when playing electric guitar

Edit: Have you considered a drum machine if your playing songs where the guitar was recorded as part of a band? Also backing tracks are cool!

[billder99]

Once you start to get the coordination of voice and guitar, it gets easier. Here is the best learning method ever...

• Block out the song measure by measure
• Place the correct lyrics within each measure
• Put your chord changes on the exact lyric syllable for the chord change
• Notate BREATHING... this is the critical step many people forget, or are not even aware of... your breathing should dominate in the coordination of guitar and voice... you can even notate short breath and deep breath.
• Go very slow as you play through, say 40pm on the metronome. Do this slowly until you can get it right. Then start nothing up by 5bpm on the metronome until you can play the song at a faster tempo than you really want to play it... when you can do that, you will have the song nailed down.

This takes time and effort, practice and more practice. At first, it may take a month or more to coordinate a simple song. Once you "get it" for 3 or 4 songs, you will find the process gets easier with each song. In the future, when you start a song you have difficulty with, always go back to this method described above... back to basics is always the way to get thru roadblocks.

To get started, Rob Hampton at Heartwood Guitar does a great job of this with around 300 popular songs charted out. Print out a song, he gives you the chord change locations and measures per chord... you will have to notate your breathing in the correct spots. Simple song that everyone knows: http://www.heartwoodguitar.com/chord...country_roads/