#16
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I came in here to second The Bard Rocks' suggestion about foot tapping. It may not be acceptable for some guitarists, in certain situations or for certain kinds of music. If you're right-handed and play sitting down with the guitar on your right knee, keep your left heel on the floor, and you don’t even have to tap audibly. As a way to keep the beat steady, it often works best for me to tap on every other beat (even- or odd-numbered beats, depending on the music). I find that nervous excitation is the biggest obstacle to keeping tight rhythm. With too much coffee, an upset stomach, troubles on my mind, etc., it can feel like the playing I’m shooting for is a million miles away. Practioners of zen talk about being able to see the bottom of a pond when the water’s still.
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Resources for nylon-string guitarists. New soleá falseta collection: http://www.canteytoque.es/falsetacollectionNew_i.htm |
#17
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Do I tap my foot? Well thinking about it only on faster more rythmic music which is not necessarilly where I need to be more consistent with maintaining a steady speed, so I will adopt a new routine, tap or otherwise twitch my foot to everything ,hopefully develop a way to do it silently, along with a metronome, but just one tap on the first beat of the bar, then after a month record myself without the metronome, made a note on the callendar. Should be an interesting exercise, thanks for the idea.
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#18
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Here's my experience with a metronome.
I'd never really used one, and had been playing in bands for decades. I knew I had a tendency to race the tempo, especially when improvising, but because I was aware of the issue I was able to control it to some extent. Then one day I was practising playing bass, accompanying my gf who was playing piano. She suggests using the metronome. Fine. I was playing walking bass (one note per beat) and it was all grooving along nicely - staying with the click, no trouble. Then she suggests I take a solo. As soon as I started improvising, the metronome started slowing down... Of course it didn't! But it really sounded that way: not that I was speeding up, but that the metronome was slowing down. That was my wake-up call: that one's sense of time is organic, flexible. "Fight or flight" syndrome is when your brain switches to another gear: thinking faster under stress, so everything else seems to slow down. You know that sensation that in traumatic incidents everything seems to go into slow motion. This was just a milder version of that. My brain had gone into improvisation mode, meaning it notched up another gear, thinking just a little faster than before. Hence the metronome slowing down. It made me realise that I was not as in control of my time-keeping as I'd previously thought. I was a slave to adrenalin! Naturally that effect is a whole lot worse in live performance. Ever felt that you make more mistakes when playing live than in private? Quite likely that's partly because you're playing faster than usual without realising it. It's something you have to conquer, and the only way to do it is more work with the metronome. Even when you think you've got it cracked. As for tapping your foot... If your time-keeping is shaky, if you can't strum in time, what makes you think you'd be able to tap your foot in time? Is it controlled by a different, more clockwork part of the brain? (Clue: nope.) I've seen too many amateur jazz musicians in workshops tapping their foot out of time ... or tapping in time until they start improvising, when the foot goes haywire... Tapping your foot is good when (a) you have reasonably good time already and (b) when playing complex syncopated rhythms. I.e., you use your foot to mark the beat, which makes it easier to feel where off-beat notes need to go. (This is much more effective than that idiotic "One-e-and-a-two-e-and-a" verbal counting business.) Generally when you see pros tapping their foot, it's not to help them keep time. It's just an instinctive expression of the good time they already have, like any bodily movement is. They're "in the groove".
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#19
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Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple) Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco) Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa) Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber) Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon) |
#20
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(deleted duplicate post)
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Resources for nylon-string guitarists. New soleá falseta collection: http://www.canteytoque.es/falsetacollectionNew_i.htm Last edited by NormanKliman; 11-14-2020 at 01:19 PM. |
#21
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EDITED TO ADD: Well, it's been a day and I was hoping someone would add to the thread because I’ve got something else to say. So I’ll just add to my last post. Quote:
I play sitting down, and, when there are people around, that chair might as well be the one at the dentist’s. It becomes a gruelling experience that I don’t enjoy sitting through. One day, I saw someone who never stops grinning and laughing while he plays, and it made me think about how I feel when I sit in that chair. As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun. It's the opposite of hypervigilance and seems to be the desirable state of mind for performing. You don’t have to laugh, but you do have to enjoy yourself and feel eager to embrace each passing moment (unlike the experience at the dentist’s). That, in my opinion, is the first step toward tight rhythm.
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Resources for nylon-string guitarists. New soleá falseta collection: http://www.canteytoque.es/falsetacollectionNew_i.htm |